Join the fight for our mighty kauri
New Zealand’s largest and most ancient trees are the spirit and life-force of our forests – but they need our help to survive.
IT’S annoying writing about the president of North America. Besides, there’s nothing one could write about Donald Trump and his horrific uselessness that hasn’t already been articulated in outraged tones around the world.
This week he insulted Native Americans when he was supposed to be honouring their war heroes and then – to distract people dropping their jaws over that – he helped spread more division in the world by re-tweeting antiIslamic videos originally put out by a leader of some hateful racist group in Britain.
But calling Trump names and highlighting his lack of empathy, which would otherwise indicate the presence of a soul, won’t do anything. He just keeps going, enabled by those in the White House who rely on him for their jobs.
Thankfully, there’s a sizeable resistance movement to Trump in the United States and, realistically, they are the only ones who can do something about him. So, in the meantime, I’d rather focus on something that does so much more good for the world – a tree.
And not just any tree, but New Zealand’s own mighty kauri, those beautiful giants that can grow up to 50m high and live for thousands of years in our native forests.
The country’s biggest kauri, Tane Mahuta in Northland’s Waipoua Forest, is believed to be around two millennia old. You don’t expect a tree to engender a sense of wonder but nothing quite prepares you for the impact of standing in its presence.
I’ve seen it only twice in my life, and each occasion it’s the same: I just stop and look up in awe at seeing something alive that is so old and so grand.
At the time it seeded, New Zealand was still ruled by awesome birds and, elsewhere in the world, young Jesus was probably running around in sandals with his mates at Nazareth Intermediate School.
These are the sorts of comparisons that race through my mind before I remember where I am, and that there are tourists waiting patiently for me to get out of the way so they can take a photo.
A few minutes drive further along SH12, and a 25-minute stroll through the bush on specially built tracks, brings you to more majestic kauris such as Te Matua Ngahere meaning ‘‘the father of the forest’’. This giant is believed to be even older than Tane Mahuta at 3000 years old, which would mean it was growing when humans were in the Bronze Age.
Now, these great trees are endangered thanks to kauri dieback, a fungal-like disease, with no known cure spread by people and animals. And, while DoC continues to battle it in the north, in the past five years in Auckland’s Waitakere Ranges, the problem has doubled. Iwi Te Kawerau a Maki, yesterday held a ceremony to place a rahui – or prohibition – on entering the 16,000 hectare park so the disease can’t be spread by people’s feet.
The iwi considers kauri the ‘‘life-force and spirit’’ of the ranges and is enacting the ritual ban, claiming officials haven’t taken concerns about kauri dieback seriously enough.
Hopefully that’s changed. The New Zealand panel responsible for deciding which species to place on the international endangered plants list has resisted adding kauri – until now.
If you can, visit these giants up north, if only to feel how special they are. The kauri tree is now an endangered species. If enough care isn’t taken, it could go the way of the huia and that life-force and spirit could vanish from our forests completely.
At the time Tane Mahuta seeded, New Zealand was ruled by birds and young Jesus was probably running around in sandals with his mates at Nazareth Intermediate School.