Dutch designer's Ancient Trees app maps remarkable old trees worldwide
Summary
- Hidde Burgmans, a 37-year-old digital designer from Baarn in the Netherlands, built the Ancient Trees app, which maps remarkable old trees worldwide.
- The app shows users which notable trees are nearby; users upload trees with photos and descriptions and record visits on their profiles.
- Featured trees range from Malaysian baobabs to the Fortingall yew in Perthshire, Scotland, thought to be about 5,000 years old.
- The idea took root on Burgmans's work trips to Lisbon, where he found no way to seek out or share special trees.
- Burgmans hopes to extend the app with walking routes linking the best trees in each city.
Reactions
- Dendrologist Dan Crowley says the app's global reach adds an extra dimension to the Woodland Trust's UK Ancient Tree Inventory.
- Dan Crowley says anything that gets more people interested in trees is a good thing and that trees need extra attention after hot, dry summers.
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Looking for an ancient tree worth a detour? There’s an app for that
theguardian.com· 2h
A Guardian article profiles the Ancient Trees app, built by Dutch digital designer Hidde Burgmans, which maps remarkable old trees worldwide — from Malaysian baobabs to the Fortingall yew in Perthshire, thought to be about 5,000 years old. The idea took root on his work trips to Lisbon; dendrologist Dan Crowley says the app's global reach adds an extra dimension to the Woodland Trust's UK inventory, and Burgmans hopes to extend it with walking routes linking cities' best trees.
