Survey team members measure the girth of a Chinese sweet gum. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

A survey of the Wanmulin Nature Reserve in Jian'ou, Fujian province, has identified 3,124 ancient trees representing 35 families, 52 genera, and 77 species, including 2,981 trees in a 100-hectare ancient-tree cluster.

The survey also confirmed a 51.5-meter Chinese sweet gum as the tallest tree ever recorded in Fujian. The tree, the only ancient tree in the province known to exceed 50 meters, has a girth of 332 centimeters and is estimated to be about 190 years old.

The findings are part of Fujian's ongoing survey of its ancient and notable tree resources. Guo Lina, deputy director of the greening office of the Fujian Provincial Forestry Bureau, said such surveys are conducted every 10 years.Since the third national survey officially began in Fujian in January 2026, the province has recorded 74,200 ancient and notable trees to date.

Fujian has developed a provincewide smart management system for ancient and notable trees, integrating field data collection, record creation, data verification, statistical analysis, and review. The system requires precise on-site location and photographic records, addressing problems from the previous survey, including inaccurate coordinates and omissions caused by overlapping urban and rural survey coverage.

An aerial view of the Wanmulin Nature Reserve. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

Fujian registered more than 110,000 such trees in its previous survey in 2016, with 12 named among China's most beautiful ancient trees. Both figures are the highest among all Chinese provinces.