[3][4] It is probably the last surviving tree of an ancient forest, and by virtue of its isolation has remained safe from Dutch elm disease.

[3] Brockman said:The Last Ent is growing on the rocky outflow of a mountain stream, not a place where you would choose to plant a tree, there being little soil under the moss that covers the rocks.

So this must be a survivor of a forest long departed, a sentinel watching over the new native woodland growing on the slopes below.

Following its becoming Tree of the Year, the Last Ent of Affric was adopted as a figurehead of efforts to fight Dutch elm disease.

[4] As such, the campaign to halt its spread in Scotland and the Highlands focuses on limiting the movement of this wood, to protect remaining elms.