The United States has ended excursions to visit Hyperioncertified as the tallest tree in the world by Guinness World Records.
With a height of 116.07 meters, the international record agency certified in 2019 this tree located in Redwood National Park, in California, as “the tallest tree currently living”.
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This tree was discovered in 2006 and since then it had been visited by thousands of tourists and locals who wanted to know it.
But the man-made damage led Redwood Park authorities to ban visits to the tree. A few days ago, they announced that whoever decides to go on an excursion to the area where Hyperion is located will be fined and sent to jail.
The person who is found in the surroundings of the tallest tree in the world will have to pay a fine of 5,000 dollars, more than 21.5 million Colombian pesos, and will face a prison sentence of six years.
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The reasons
In a statement issued through the California Natural Parks website, authorities reported that the popularity that the tree and its nearby trails have gained thanks to bloggers or travel promoters has led to the habitat of the Hyperion tree being devastated.
“The forest around Hyperion has been trampled and damaged by uninformed hikers,” the statement read.
To this is added, according to the park authorities, that during the excursions several tourists have used the area as a bathroom and have left their waste in the forest.
“There was litter and people were creating even more side paths to use the bathroom. They leave behind used toilet paper and human waste. It’s not a good thing, it’s not a good scene,” Leonel Argüello, head of Natural Resources for the park, told the local San Francisco Gate newspaper.
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A single visitor can make a drastic negative change in an environment
The visits, Argüello said, “were having an impact on the vegetation and potentially on the root system of the tree itself.”
According to the park, several people were also risking their lives to get to the tree highest in the world, as there is no official path to reach it.
To get there, you must walk through the forest, a space where people do not have cell phone reception to communicate in case of getting lost or injured.
“Forests grow per inch and die per foot. A single visitor can make a drastic negative change in an environment. Although it may feel like it’s not having an impact, too many people making a small change creates a lasting and devastating effect,” the park said in a statement.
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🚫🌳 Fine of 5,000 euros for anyone who approaches the tallest living tree in the world: the Hyperion
The area surrounding the 116-meter sequoia is specially protected after mass tourism damaged the area, a US natural park. 👉https://t.co/aKFMICKAYa pic.twitter.com/mZl7DxDFSJ
– The Vanguard (@LaVanguardia) August 2, 2022
Therefore, the determination of the authorities to protect this forest, which according to the Guinness Record could be between 600 and 800 years old, was to prohibit visits and punish those who violate the measure with fines and jail.
The closure will be indefinitely. And although the news has saddened hundreds of hikers who wanted to see the record holder tree, it is expected to be an effective measure to protect this natural environment.
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