[xp38]

Notice the writer has already anthropomorphised it with this sentence. It witnessed the arrival of the first European settlers... These giant trees die this way because they have a relatively shallow root system. They can live longer than almost any other life form on earth but for this one achilles heel. It is the reason some of the biggest are now fenced off from the public because too much tramping about around their base might create instability.

[HiTech RedNeck]

Would it help similar trees to enclose the base in a ground retaining wall, filled with more soil? Deep enough that allowing people on top of it would not hurt the trees’ roots?