Protecting Ta¯ne Mahuta from visitors
Many people are moved to tears when they first see Ta¯ne Mahuta – the legendary Lord of the Forest and Aotearoa’s largest tree.
‘‘When people see the majestic beauty of Ta¯ne Mahuta we quite often see people cry – they didn’t realise that there was a natural wonder like this,’’ Te Roroa general manager Snow Tane said.
The tree is immortalised in Ma¯ori legend for separating his sky father, Ranginui, and earth mother, Papatu¯-a¯-nuku, pushing them apart with his legs to create the world of light.
But just kilometres away from this icon, visited by thousands each year, is another site that can bring tears to the eye: dead kauri trees that have been cut down and left to rot. The trees were in a high kauri dieback impact area and, while some were struck by high winds, all were a danger to the state highway running through the forest, he said.
The risk of kauri dieback spreading was so great the trees have to lie where they were cut, said Tane, whose iwi is kaitiaki for the Waipoua Forest, which includes Ta¯ne Mahuta, Te Matua Ngahere (father of the forest) and hundreds of other kauri almost as large.
The 60 Te Roroa members who both live and work in the forest are reducing the risk of spreading kauri dieback by following strict protocol – such as working in the least affected areas first and hunting pigs away from kauri stands.
In 2018, the fungus-like pathogen that causes kauri dieback, Phytophthora agathidicida or PA, was found less than 60m away from Ta¯ne Mahuta.
But the iwi has since been empowered to better protect kauri. It now has up to 20 kauri ora workers who monitor infection rates, treat infected trees with phosphite, grow kauri seedlings and carry out monitoring for scientists.
Ta¯ne Mahuta now has fenced boardwalks and gates for safe viewing. The Department of Conservation has also funded kauri ambassadors who educate visitors on proper cleaning and sticking to the tracks.
While the rules and signs are straightforward to follow, Tane said they are often broken by people entering the forest to steal plants, non-compliant pig hunters, and even those wanting to spread ashes of a loved one around Ta¯ne Mahuta.
Kauri ora worker Conrad Marsh said the biggest risk in the Waipoua Forest is people who come in with a lack of awareness and a lack of connection to nature itself.
‘‘But our goal is: when someone walks in not connected and they leave connected [with nature]. That’s our job,’’ he said.
Te Roroa has taken on another job: teaching other Tai Tokerau iwi – plus now landowners and community groups – to look after their own forests by following the proven kauri protection protocol, Tane said.
Empowering mana whenua was also an important part of Tiakina
Kauri, the new kauri protection agency, manager Alan McKenzie said. Given kauri trees could live for up to 2000 years, it made sense to involve people who took a longer world view and considered the trees a taonga, he said.
Ma¯tauranga Ma¯ori (Ma¯ori knowledge) is also an integral part of the BioHeritage National Science Challenge for kauri dieback and myrtle rust.
The programme, Nga¯ Ra¯kau Taketake, brings together researchers from different institutions and disciplines, said science leader Dr Nick Waipara from Plant & Food Research.