After three years of planning, five expeditions, and a two week trek through dense jungle, scientists have reached the tallest tree ever found in the Amazon.
The largest tree in the Iratapuru River Nature Reserve in northern Brazil is an angelim vermelho, which is 8.6 meters tall and 8.6 meters wide.
The tree was spotted in satellite images as part of a project.
An expedition was mounted by academics, environmentalists, and local guides to reach it.
After a 10-day trek through difficult terrain, exhausted, and with a team member falling ill, they had to return.
The tallest Brazil nut tree ever recorded in the Amazon was reached by three more expeditions to the Jari Valley region.
Researchers traveled 250 kilometers by boat up rivers with rapids and another 20 kilometers on foot to reach the angelim vermelho.
A person on the expedition was bitten on the arm by a poisonous spider.
Diego Armando Silva is a forest engineer at Amapa Federal University.
It was one of the prettiest things I have seen. Silva said it was just divine.
There is a forest where humankind has never set foot before.
Silva estimates that the tree is at least 400 to 600 years old, and that the region has a lot of giant trees.
Silva says that around half of the weight of the giant trees is carbon dioxide.
The region's giants are under threat.
The Iratapuru reserve is being invaded by illegal gold miners who are notorious for bringing ecological destruction, according to Jakeline.
"We were very excited to make this find."
At a time when the Amazon is facing so much destruction, it's important.
The last three years have seen a 75 percent increase in the number of trees being cut down.
Agence France- Presse.
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