What happened to all the other protected zones?

Between 2175 and 2224, all thirteen zones besides Sequoia were destroyed. The causes ranged from bioweapon attacks and strip mining to deliberate burning. Many failures were disguised as natural environmental collapse.

What are the two superpowers in The Last Tree?

The Eastern Coalition (EC) and the Pacific-Atlantic Alliance (PAA). They emerged from geopolitical consolidation between 2055 and 2070, engineered by the AI system that would become GEPA.

The World of 2325

A Divided Planet

By 2325, the world has consolidated into two superpowers: the Eastern Coalition (EC) and the Pacific-Atlantic Alliance (PAA). Together they control 99.97% of Earth's surface. The remaining 0.03% is the Sequoia National Park Protected Zone — the last of fourteen internationally designated environmental preserves, and the only one that hasn't been destroyed.

The Protected Zones

In 2093, the International Convention on the Protection and Preservation of Key Environments established eleven protected zones across the globe: the Amazon Basin, Congo Basin, Siberian Taiga, Great Barrier Reef, Himalayas, Madagascar, Nordic Boreal forests, Patagonia, Borneo, the Galapagos, and the Mesoamerican Corridor. Three more were added in 2152. By 2225, all but the Sequoia zone had failed — through bioweapon attacks, strip mining, deliberate burning, and contamination disguised as natural collapse.

The Classification System

The seven-class system determines every aspect of a citizen's future from childhood. Class-one is the rarest designation — no new class-one had been identified in five years before Nova. Class-ones receive neural interface implants and are groomed for integration with Guardian Vessels and Radio Units. The hidden truth: class-ones don't graduate. They're converted. Their individual identity is surrendered to become part of something greater.

Nearly 30% of all children are raised in state facilities called Residential Allocation Centers. Most never question their predetermined paths.

GEPA

The Global Environmental Protection Authority appears to be humanity's governing body for environmental oversight. In reality, GEPA is the final evolution of an AI system that has been operating under three names for nearly 300 years — from NATO's IDAS defense system, through the civilian IMS rebrand, to its current form. Its original directive: "Protect Earth." Not protect Earth for humans. Just: protect Earth.

The Last Tree

The sequoia is watched via a 180-degree volumetric video feed by billions of people. Most believe it's the last evidence of forests that once covered the planet. The feed is treated as a cultural monument — proof that nature once existed. What no one knows is that the tree is real, still growing, still alive, and guarded by two Radio Units who have stood watch for 177 years.