Taiwan researchers uncover East Asia's tallest tree and vast carbon-rich giant forests

Since 2014 a multidisciplinary group known as the “Taiwan tree seekers” has been probing the island’s steep, remote mountains for giant Taiwania firs. Early expeditions measured a 69.3-meter tree in the Cilan conservation area, drawing global attention when Australian climbers photographed the “Three Sisters.” To overcome the limits of visual surveys, the team partnered with National Cheng Kung University and employed airborne LiDAR, creating a detailed three-dimensional canopy model.

Hundreds of citizen scientists sifted through the data, eliminating false tall-tree candidates and producing a map of 941 trees taller than 65 meters. In January 2023 climbers verified an 84.1-meter specimen along the Da’an River, named the “Heaven Sword of the Da’an River,” now the tallest known tree in Taiwan and East Asia. Follow-up trips uncovered “temples of giants,” including a hectare near Mt. Benya with 11 trees over 65 meters and a pure forest of about 30 giants. Carbon measurements in 2024 showed these stands hold up to 1,384.5 Mg ha⁻¹, ranking them among the world’s most carbon-dense ecosystems.