Trees grow very much like people, once they reach maturity and are fully established their rate of growth slows until the natural end of their life.

There is, however, one species of tree to whom this rule does not apply – Sequoias, better known as Giant Sequoias and Coastal Redwoods. These are the California natives famous for their beautiful red bark and colossal stature. The tallest Giant Sequoia is 84m tall and still growing. In case you can’t picture that, it’s just a few meters off The Statue of Liberty or Big Ben (image below is generated by OpenAI - there is sadly no Giant Sequoia outside Westminster!).

General Sherman, the largest remaining Giant Sequoia, has captured over 1,400 tonnes of carbon dioxide, more than double that of an average UK person’s lifetime carbon footprint.

The rate of growth for Sequoias never slows and this is over a natural lifetime that can span thousands of years. They continue to add layers at the same rate throughout their long life so that as they grow in height and girth they incrementally layer on more wood every year. In fact, in terms of biomass, the oldest Giant Sequoias are the fastest growing trees in the world, growing more in a single season than in the entire lifetime of many other species.

This ability of Sequoias to maintain a perpetual growth rate is unique. The genetic anomaly that allows it is not yet fully understood although their genome was sequenced in 2020 so answers may follow. Their cell structure has adapted to be able to transport water from root to canopy at immense heights and they are highly resilient, which is why when they die it is most often from external events such as extreme fires, hurricanes or logging rather than old age.

Tragically the extraordinary Giant Sequoia is under massive threat from historical logging (over 95% have been felled) and the combined forces of drought, superheated wildfires and bark beetle or, to put it another way, climate change. The stark statistic is that between 2015 and 2021 over 85 percent of all Giant Sequoia grove acreage across the Sierra Nevada burned in wildfires.

At The Great Reserve we have a mission to plant 100,000 Giant Sequoias in sites across the western parts of the UK. We aim to provide a climate safe haven which allows them to thrive and recover as a species (in a 100% non-invasive manner as they don’t naturally propagate here, and with natives planted alongside), thereby continuing to pull carbon dioxide out of the air at incredible rates and and in so doing create more of these stunning and iconic trees.

1. Fastest growing tree: https://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/world-records/81499-fastest-growing-tree-by-biomass-volume-per-year-for-an-individual-tree : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sequoiadendron_giganteum

2. Largest tree in the world: https://www.nps.gov/seki/learn/nature/sherman.htm

3. General Sherman 1400 T CO2: https://www.terraformation.com/blog/how-to-measure-carbon-capture-potential-forests

4. UK CO2 emissions: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1064923/2021-provisional-emissions-statistics-report.pdf

5. Giant Sequoia over 3,000 years old: https://www.nps.gov/yose/learn/nature/sequoia-research.htm

6. CO2 sequestered by mature oak calculated from Woodland Carbon Code carbon calculation spreadsheet. Also, growth period oak and Douglas fir, from: https://www.woodlandcarboncode.org.uk/standard-and-guidance/3-carbon-sequestration/3-3-project-carbon-sequestration

7. Giant Sequoia keeps on growing: https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/article/121205-sequoia-redwoods-trees-old-national-park-science-environment

8. Genome sequencing: https://academic.oup.com/g3journal/article/10/11/3907/6048618

9. Loss of Giant Sequoias in Sierra Nevada: https://www.nps.gov/articles/000/giant-sequoias-face-new-threats.htm