Scotland built a hidden fence around a long-dead forest, sealing an entire grove off from the world. The area had decayed for decades, with trees reduced to skeletal gray husks, and officials kept the site strictly closed to the public.
For roughly two centuries, no new trees took root across parts of the Scottish Highlands. Ancient Scots pines, some carrying a lineage that stretches back 9,000 years, stood in moors grazed by nearly a million deer. Then researchers built a fence to keep deer out of one area. With no planting, seeding, or soil treatment, one side of the fence turned into a dense young forest within a few years. Th…