Taiwan scientists find 84.1-meter tree, East Asia's tallest

An 84.1-meter Taiwania fir in Taiwan’s remote interior is the tallest tree in East Asia. A team of researchers and citizen scientists known as the Taiwan tree seekers measured the tree, named the Heaven Sword of the Da’an River, in January 2023. It surpasses the previous record holder, the Chilan Three Sisters, whose tallest measured 69.3 meters.

The team’s search began in August 2014. By the end of 2022, using aerial LiDAR and a network of hundreds of citizen volunteers, they had produced the Taiwan Giant Tree Map, which documents 941 individual trees taller than 65 meters. Automated software initially misidentified 93% of tree heights, so citizen scientists reviewed the data to confirm candidates.

Taiwan’s geography supports such giants. The island spans 36,000 square kilometers, with 258 peaks above 3,000 meters and 60% forest cover. Industrial logging from 1912 to 1991 cleared much primary forest, but steep, inaccessible terrain preserved old-growth pockets where these Taiwania firs survive.

The tree seekers, including ecologists from the Taiwan Forestry Research Institute and remote sensing specialists from National Cheng Kung University, also identified dense clusters they call “temples of giants.” Near Mt. Benya, a single hectare contains 11 trees above 65 meters, and near Great Ghost Lake, a sacred Indigenous site, roughly 30 giant Taiwania firs grow in a pure forest.

In 2024, a study of the Tao Tree valley, home to Taiwan’s third-tallest tree, found the forest’s carbon density reached 1,384.5 Mg/ha—among the world’s highest. “These trees that hit the moon are essential guardians of the environment,” the Rukai people say.

By early 2026, the team had climbed ten Taiwania trees over 70 meters, including two exceeding 80 meters, with ongoing surveys likely to reveal more.