Old Tjikko stands on Fulufjellet, just one mile from the Norwegian border in Trysil, in Älvdalen municipality. The old fir tree is thin and small, so it hasn’t taken all the snow this winter. – I was very surprised, says mountain guide Tommy Lönnebäcke in Fulufjellet National Park. He was supposed to follow a photographer up to Old Tjikko last week, and had to look for a while before he felt the tree. – The trunk was broken approx. one meter from the top, so it was not like itself. It was SVT in Dalarna that first mentioned that Old Tjikko was broken. SNOW CRACKED: The top of Old Tjikko in Fulufjellet is broken this winter. But other things can make the tree more vulnerable. Photo: Tommy Lönnebäcke Discovered in 2005 Fulufjellet lies on the border between Norway and Sweden. There is a national park on both sides. But also the alpine resort in Trysil is partly in Fulufjellet. There is a lot of old forest in this area. And because it is a national park, much of the forest has been allowed to live. All the way up at the top lies Old Tjikko, the tree was “discovered” in 2005. Then Swedish biologists took samples of the wood lying in the ground under the tree. And the dating was clear – more than 9,550 years back in time. No other place in the world has such an old fir tree been found. Since then, both tourists and researchers have come from all over the world to see the tree. FOUND TREE BROKEN: Mountain guide Tommy Lönnebäcke has been our mountain guide in Fulufjellet for many years. He has been on many trips with Old Tjikko. Photo: news Tommy Lönnebacke is a mountain guide in the company Ecoadventure.se often accompanies tourists on snowshoe or snowmobile trips up the mountain. Tommy says that it turns out that the seed from Old Tjikko came from the west, i.e. from the Norwegian side of the border. A border that few cared about nearly 10,000 years ago. Found the tree Biologist Lisa Öberg is a mountain ecologist. She has been researching old forest for many years, and it was she who found and dated Old Tjikko. – Then it turned out that no other fir trees in the world were that old. It was a big discovery to make. Öberg explains that it is the root of the tree that is so old, other types of wood can have much older trunks. The tree itself is a genetic clone that grows on top of the remains of all the trees that have grown up from the root throughout history. She comforts us who are now worried about Old Tjiko. – This is actually the way the tree survives. A fir tree that is to live a long time must not have too thick a trunk. There must be almost more baby needles than firewood. If the tree gets too tall or too thick, it uses too much force on the trunk. Öberg therefore hopes that Old Tjikko will live for many more years. In the past, Öberg has warned that all the trampling of people up to the tree destroys the reindeer lichen and mountain bed where the tree stands, and it can be damaged. TAKES IT WELL: Mountain ecologist Lisa Öberg in front of Old Tjikko. She was with the group that discovered and dated the tree. Then it got its name after a dog that was on the trip. Ögren says that the tree can benefit from breaking a little, it must not spend its energy on having too large a trunk. Love the old forest. Lisa Öberg says that there is a lot of old forest in the entire mountain range that runs between Norway and Sweden. She and other researchers have found fir trees several thousand years old also in the border areas towards Røros and in Sälen in Sweden. Originally, Old Tjikko probably actually stood lower in the landscape, but then it has followed the uplift of the land – so now it stands on the mountain. – The forest on the mountain is getting older, because it is thin and low. And part of it is fortunately in national parks and can be left alone. OLD TJIKKO: Who would have thought that this is the world’s oldest tree? Thin and a little shaggy. But that is exactly why it has worked out so well. It is the root itself that is 9,500 years old. Photo: Tommy Lönnebäcke Many people have strong feelings for the forest and especially for the old forest. Öberg understands them well. – It may have something to do with the three getting so old. As old as man. Yes, much, much older. It is mysterious and it arouses feelings, says Öberg. Now a group of artists has cultivated a spruce shoot from Old Tjiko. The plan is for it to be displayed in the vestibule of the new hospital in Malmö, in a stand with a natural mountain environment. This is how they hope to ensure Old Tjiko’s eternal life. In the event that something should happen to the tree on Fulufjellet. The mystery in Bymarka: What has really happened here – and who is behind it? ?
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Now the tree is broken – news Innlandet – Local news, TV and radio
