Wood you suspect it?
Scientists have confirmed the existence of the world’s oldest forest — and the traditional, secret spot is simply a brief drive from the hustle and bustle of the Big Apple.
First discovered at the underside of an abandoned quarry near the town of Cairo within the Catskill Mountains back in 2009, the experts have been working to learn the precise ages of the plants and trees growing in the realm, where rocks reportedly as much as 385 million years old hold the wooded area’s fossilized treasure.
Researchers from SUNY Binghamton and the University of Cardiff in Wales, were excited to seek out evidence of extremely early plants — some that may have “even been seen by dinosaurs,” the BBC reported.
The forest, just over two hours’ drive from NYC’s George Washington Bridge, once opened up over an area of about 250 miles. The soil sifters are said to have been focusing their efforts on an area roughly half the scale of a football field.
“The Cairo site could be very special,” Christopher Berry, a paleobotanist at Cardiff University, told Science in 2019.
“You might be walking through the roots of ancient trees. Standing on the quarry surface we are able to reconstruct the living forest around us in our imagination,” he said.
For years, Berry and his colleagues have been examining plant and tree fossils in the realm to assist them construct their case.
The Recent York site joins more far-flung locales resembling the Amazon rainforest and Japan’s Yakushima Forest in an elite group of O.G.’s.
Those inquisitive about visiting the precise site shall be disillusioned, at the very least in the meanwhile — the quarry is owned by the Town of Cairo, and is currently strictly reserved for scientific study, out of concern for preservation of the realm.
There’s plenty else to see in the realm nevertheless.
Skiing at Windham Mountain and the stylish shops and restaurants of the town of Hudson are each just minutes away, while the mountaineering trails of Catskill Park are right on Cairo’s doorstep.
The Cairo site isn’t the one extremely old find within the region — one other forest site was previously discovered in nearby Gilboa, dating back just three years shy of the present crownbearer.
