00:00A majestic but silent giant towers over this small village in Taiwan's central mountain range.
00:09Standing at over 30 meters tall, it's the country's largest china berry tree.
00:14For about 140 years, it's been a fixture of daily life here in Guanhua,
00:19dropping its leaves each winter and flowering in purple blooms each spring.
00:23This tree is a rarity. In Taiwanese tai-gi, china berry is called ko-lien, a name that sounds like the word for sorrow and bitterness, and for that reason, many in Taiwan cut down trees like this.
00:53But here in Guanhua, one survived, and as the tree reaches new heights, so do concerns about its health.
01:05Locals have called in the experts. Rebecca Hsu is Taiwan's most renowned tree scientist,
01:10dedicating decades to finding and protecting Taiwan's tallest trees.
01:14On her first visit to Guanhua, Hsu climbed to the top of the tree,
01:23and was relieved to give Taiwan's tallest china berry a clean bill of health.
01:28Taiwan's ancient trees are under pressure. With rising temperatures and an increasingly erratic
01:48typhoon season, trees like this one are more vulnerable than ever.
01:52And with 60% of Taiwan's land covered in forest, Hsu can't do this alone.
02:03She's now enlisting the help of people like Zayao,
02:06a member of the indigenous Zhou group who grew up just across the valley from Guanhua.
02:11He's told the village he'll help care for their tree,
02:14and says the traditions of his people who've lived in these mountains for thousands of years,
02:20guides his work in the forest.
02:21As the experts scale its branches, this tree's enduring presence has also become like a bridge,
02:50connecting community, science, and age-old traditions.
02:55Its future, standing tall as a guardian over this valley,
02:59depends not only on its strong roots in this land,
03:02but also its strong roots in its people.
03:05Luffy Lee, Pichi Zhuang, and Rick Lawert in Jiayi County for Taiwan Plus.
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