2026-06-18T07:24:00-0400 / 哥伦比亚广播公司新闻
一棵与罗宾汉传说紧密相关的巨型古树可能因游客过度喜爱而“死亡”。
英国皇家鸟类保护协会周四表示，这棵位于舍伍德森林、已有1200年树龄的“大橡树”今年春天未长出新叶，据此可确认其已死亡。
该环保组织称，尽管这棵巨型橡树周围的区域已用围栏隔开，但过去两个世纪以来，前来观赏它扭曲枝干和茂密树冠的游客在诺丁汉当地踩踏了土壤，导致雨水难以渗入树根。
多年来，这片森林一直面临威胁，这棵树过去也曾被传死亡，但该组织后来证实它仍存活。
但这次情况不同了。
“这棵树今年未能长出新叶，对所有人来说都令人心碎，”英国皇家鸟类保护协会的霍莉·德雷克在宣布橡树死亡的声明中说道。
2007年10月19日在英格兰诺丁汉郡拍摄的“大橡树”，传说中罗宾汉曾在此藏身。美联社/西蒙·道森
据说这棵树曾为传奇13世纪绿林好汉罗宾汉提供庇护——他劫富济贫，在被诺丁汉郡长追捕时藏身于这片森林。
1790年，海曼·鲁克少校在一本关于橡树的书中提及这棵树，此后首批游客蜂拥而至，它也因此得名“大橡树”。
目前无法确定这棵树的具体死因，但数百万游客的踩踏是其衰落的原因之一，此外还有用钢缆和支架加固其巨大枝干的干预措施。导致其死亡的原因还有气候变化带来的热浪和干旱。
树木专家发现，其根系被挤压窒息且营养不良。
“像大橡树这样的古树是英国的‘保护级白犀牛’，但它们的衰落却远不那么引人注目，”伍德兰信托基金的埃德·派恩说道，“保护它们对我们所处世界的健康至关重要，然而大多数古树都在悄无声息中消失，没有获得像大橡树这样的关注或照料。”
除了在民间传说中的地位，这片森林还因出产木材闻名：18世纪末至19世纪初，舍伍德橡树为副海军上将霍雷肖·纳尔逊的皇家海军舰船提供了木材，其木材还被用于伦敦圣保罗大教堂的屋顶建造。
大橡树幸免于砍伐，自20世纪70年代以来一直受到围栏保护。
2013年6月30日资料照片，一名男孩站在英格兰舍伍德森林大橡树的围栏上。哥伦比亚广播公司新闻
英国皇家鸟类保护协会表示：“尽管这标志着大橡树作为活树的生命走到了尽头，但这并不意味着它的故事就此终结。”
“这棵树及其下方的土壤将继续成为野生动物的重要庇护所，我们在照料大橡树过程中获得的知识，将有助于保护全国其他的古老橡树，”该组织说道，“通过与合作伙伴制定相关计划，它的遗产将通过其幼苗和与之相关的传说延续下去，这棵树在死后也将继续成为野生动物的重要庇护所。”
德雷克表示，这棵树将成为人们可以参观的纪念物，“它将活在罗宾汉的传说中，并在死后继续为森林生态系统提供与生前同等的支持。”
1,200-year-old Robin Hood oak tree in Sherwood Forest has died, group says: “Heartbreaking for everyone”
2026-06-18T07:24:00-0400 / CBS News
A massive ancient oak tree linked to the legend of Robin Hood may have been loved to death.
The 1,200-year-old Major Oak in Sherwood Forest is believed to have died after it didn’t sprout leaves this spring, the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds said Thursday.
Visitors over the past two centuries who viewed the tree’s gnarled limbs and sprawling canopy in Nottingham compressed the soil, making it difficult for rain to reach its roots, the conservation group said, despite the immediate area around the massive oak being fenced off.
The forest has been under threat for years and the tree had been rumored to have died in the past — only to have the group confirm it was still alive.
That is no longer the case.
“The tree’s failure to produce leaves this year is heartbreaking for everyone,” Hollie Drake of the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds said in a statement announcing the death.
The “Major Oak” tree, where Robin Hood allegedly used as a hide out in Sherwood Forest, is seen in Nottinghamshire, England, Oct. 19, 2007. AP/SIMON DAWSON
The tree is said to have sheltered Robin Hood, the legendary 13th-century bandit who stole from the rich and gave to the poor and took refuge in the forest when being pursued by the sheriff of Nottingham.
It got its name after being mentioned in a book on oak trees by Major Hayman Rooke in 1790 that led to the first wave of fans who flocked to the forest.
It’s impossible to say what killed the tree, but the footprints of millions contributed to its downfall, along with intervention to shore up its massive limbs using cables and poles. Climate change that has brought heat waves and drought was also blamed.
Tree experts found the root system strangled and starved.
“Ancient trees like the Major Oak are the ‘conservation white rhinos of the U.K.’ but their decline is far less visible,” said Ed Pyne, of the Woodland Trust. “Saving them is vital to the health of the world we live in and yet most disappear quietly, without the recognition or care given to the Major Oak.”
In addition to its place in folklore, the forest is known for Sherwood oaks that floated the ships of Vice Admiral Horatio Nelson’s Royal Navy in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, and as timbers in the roof of St. Paul’s Cathedral in London.
The Major Oak was spared from the saw and had been protected by a fence since the 1970s.
A boy stands on the fence surrounding the Major Oak in Sherwood Forest, England, in a June 30, 2013 file photo. CBS News
“Although this marks the end of the Major Oak as a living tree, it does not mark the end of its story,” the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds said.
“The tree and soil beneath it will continue to be a vital refuge for wildlife and the knowledge we have gained by looking after the Major Oak will help preserve other ancient oaks across the country,” the group said. “Its legacy will live on through its saplings and the legends associated with it, with plans being drawn up with our partners, and the tree will continue to be a vital refuge for wildlife.”
Drake said the tree will be a monument that people can visit, “living on in the legend of Robin Hood and continuing to provide as much support to the forest’s ecosystem in death as in life.”
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