Luwan Ancient Cinnamomum camphora, known as the "No.1 Cinnamomum camphora in Zhejiang", is located in the "Jinzhangyuan" near Daxi, Liancheng Street, Liandu District, Lishui City. It is more than 1700 years old, more than 200 years earlier than the establishment of Chuzhou. It is the oldest ancient Cinnamomum camphora in Zhejiang Province, and a national first-class protected ancient tree. Luwan ancient camphor tree has experienced years of dust and relentless fire and water in a thousand years, but it is still green and shows its upright posture with vitality.
Build a garden for a tree, and take appropriate measures to promote the ancient camphor trees to grow green. In the 1990s, half of the roots of the ancient camphor tree were exposed due to the loss of sand and gravel soil due to the impact of the flood, lost support and could not maintain balance and dumped onto the road. Through the stone masonry reinforcement and protection project, the millennium old camphor tree was successfully righted. Due to frequent infestation by insects, ants and floods, Lishui Forestry Bureau allocated more than 3.53 million yuan in 2007 to take a series of protective and construction measures against Luwan ancient camphor tree, and created a beautiful and exquisite ancient tree park for it. Since the ancient camphor tree was planted in the Jin Dynasty, the park was named "Jin Zhangyuan". Jin Zhangyuan is surrounded by the beautiful Nanming Lake on one side and the wide highway on the other. There is an endless stream of pedestrians, vehicles and tourists coming to visit. Now it has become a new tourist attraction in Liandu District, welcoming tourists from all directions. The current Luwan ancient camphor tree has raised the level of rural landscape and led Luwan to embark on the road of green and common prosperity while extending its branches and spreading its leaves.
Build a tree as a green monument and share the ecological dividends with villagers. Ancient and famous trees are treasures of forest resources and precious heritage of history and humanity. Cinnamomum camphora is one of the ten main tree species for carbon sequestration afforestation in Zhejiang Province. After thousands of years, Luwan Ancient Cinnamomum camphora has formed a unique biological habitat based on trees, with significant ecological benefits. In December 1997, Luwan Guzhang was listed as the first batch of ancient and famous trees in Lishui. In 2018, all ancient and famous trees were once again protected with smart cards. A two-dimensional code was added to the "ID card" of Luwan Guzhang, so that people could scan the two-dimensional code and query the relevant information of Guzhang. Luwan Guzhang was more widely known, and further consolidated the consensus on social protection of ancient and famous trees. At present, Cinnamomum camphora has a broad crown, with a chest circumference of about 1440 cm (459 cm in diameter at breast height), a height of 21 meters, lush leaves and branches, shade everywhere, and majestic momentum. Because of its special aroma and volatile oil, it has the characteristics of temperature resistance, corrosion resistance, pest elimination, and long survival period, so it is a long-lived tree species. Therefore, camphor trees are often regarded as geomantic trees. On holidays, villagers and even tourists from other places all over the country come to clock in. The ancient camphor tree that has undergone changes has been integrated with local folk culture. Now, Luwan ancient camphor tree is not only a monument to ecological protection, but also a fusion of multiple folk cultures.
One tree is rated as the best, and the influence of ancient camphor trees covers the whole country. In the selection of "the most beautiful ancient tree in Zhejiang" in 2015, Luwan Ancient Cinnamomum camphora stood out from 218400 ancient and famous trees in the province, and was rated as "the most ancient tree in Zhejiang" for 1700 years old. In 2023, the State Forestry and Grassland Administration announced the results of the "Double Hundred" Ancient Tree Selection and Publicity Campaign at the National Science Popularization Week for the Protection of Ancient and Famous Trees, and the ancient camphor tree in Luwan Village was selected as one of the "Ten Most Beautiful Ancient camphor trees in China". The historical, cultural and ecological values of ancient and famous trees have been carried forward again.
In recent years, Liandu District has carried out the formulation and construction of the "one tree, one policy" protection scheme for several years, protected 134 ancient trees, improved the living environment of ancient trees, and signed 139 agreements on the conservation of ancient and famous trees in Liandu District, Lishui City. The charm of ancient trees has become an ecological card on the high-quality development road of Liandu Mountain Area, and also a driving force for developing rural tourism and promoting common prosperity.
(Source: China Green Times)
