New Zealand's most sacred tree is about 2,500 years old. But its days may be numbered
New Zealand’s oldest
and most sacred tree stands 60 metres from death, as a fungal disease known as
kauri dieback spreads unabated across the country. Tāne Mahuta (Lord of
the Forest) is a giant kauri tree located in the Waipoua forest in the north of
the country, and is sacred to the Māori people, who regard it as a living
ancestor. The tree is believed
to be around 2,500 years old, and is 13.77m across and more than 50m tall. Thousands of locals
and tourists alike visit the tree every year to pay their respects, and take
selfies beside the trunk. Now, the survival of
what is believed to be New Zealand’s oldest living tree is threatened by kauri
dieback, with kauri trees a mere 60m from Tāne Mahuta confirmed to be infected.
Kauri dieback causes
most infected trees to die, and is threatening to completely wipe out New
Zealand’s most treasured native tree species, prized for its beauty, strength
and use in boats, carvings and buildings. Despite stringent
efforts by local iwi [Māori tribes] to combat the spread – most commonly
through infected soil tramped in on walkers’ boots, or the hooves of wild pigs
– there is no cure, and native tree experts are calling for international help
to slow the demise of kauri dieback and save Tāne Mahuta.
Amanda Black from the
Bioprotection Research Centre at NZ’s Lincoln University, estimates Tāne has
only three to six months before becoming infected – if he is not already – as
his mammoth root system spreads in excess of 60m underground. An advisory panel was
launched by the government in June in a bid to tackle the spread of the
disease, but Black says the panel was the equivalent of “shuffling
deck chairs on the Titanic.” She wants Tāne soil tested immediately to
confirm whether or not the tree is infected, but this option is proving
controversial… read more:
