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Tallest tree found in Amazon rainforest is 100 feet taller than Nelson’s Column

It’s a living behemoth which stands 290-feet tall, around 100 feet taller than Nelson’s Column - and it’s believed to be the tallest tree in the Amazon rainforest.

The gigantic Dinizia excelsa tree is native to Brazil and prized for its hardwood, and is around 90 feet higher than the previous record holder.

It was found deep within the rainforest after researchers scanned the mammoth tree from a plane with laser.

Its record-breaking height was recorded by a team of British and Brazilian researchers who delved deep within the Amazon forest on an 11-day expedition.

The tallest tree in the Amazon A team of researchers delved deep within the Amazon forest on an 11 day expedition where they uncovered a group of giant trees (SWNS)
The tallest tree in the Amazon A team of researchers delved deep within the Amazon forest on an 11 day expedition where they uncovered a group of giant trees (SWNS)

Toby Jackson, plant scientist at the University of Cambridge Conservation Research Institute, who travelled with the expedition said: “Professor Eric Gorgens said he found a really tall tree and he wanted to go to the Amazon to officially record it so that people would believe it.

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“It was an 11-day expedition and it took us five days to get up the river and then we had to go on foot, it was quite hard to access it.

“Other trees in that area is quite protected so there may even be taller trees we don’t know about.”

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He added: “The area is quite plant-tolerant so there’s water and it’s just the right balance. Some areas get flooded and the soil is of quite poor quality but there is no flooding here.

“I think it’s a pretty significant discovery for conservation science.”

The area was so concealed that the team had to first travel by boat and then proceed by foot, navigating through waterfalls and thick greenery.

Once there, they employed specialist climbers to go to the top of every tree and dangle a rope so they could precisely measure each one.

Climbing in the area close to the tallest tree in the Amazon (SWNS)
Climbing in the area close to the tallest tree in the Amazon (SWNS)

The tallest measured 290 feet and could store as much carbon as an entire hectare of rainforest elsewhere in the Amazon.

Trees help to mitigate climate change by taking carbon out of the atmosphere and storing it, with a bigger tree storing more carbon.

However, the tree is not the tallest in the world - that title belongs to California redwoods, which have been measured up to 379.7 feet.

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