Waipoua Forest by Lukas Kamrath

“If you ask me what the most important thing in the world is, my answer is us. It is up to us as people … it is our responsibility to make sure we care for the land and environment. Without the small things we do, we do not have any great things.” – Merepaea Kendall

On the Northern tip of New Zealand lives the magnificent Kauri tree in the Waipoua Forest. Only two percent of this specific species of trees remains alive today. Mankind and disease has destroyed the rest. One evening, as the sun set in the distance magnifying the beauty of the Northern Island, we stepped outside our van with our guide, Merepaea, to start a new adventure.

First let me take you back to the time of early settlement in this part of the country. Some time in between the years 1250 and 1300 CE a tribe from Polynesia began coming to New Zealand and settling the land. They were called the Maori tribe and our guide was one of them. When the Maori discovered the Kauri trees, they admired, respected and worshiped them. At the time, there were nearly three million acres of Kauri Forest in northern New Zealand. The Maori only took what they needed from the forest and always replenished what they took. They had a deep level of respect for the environment. Things changed for the fate of the Kauri when European settlers arrived. When they discovered these immense trees and found how “pure” their timber was, lacking any knots, they began to take them from the forest relentlessly. From 1830 on, there were over 3,000 dams created to help with the transportation of floating these trees to Auckland, the capital at the time and the base from which they would sell them. Whole sections of forest were cleared for farm lands as well. The trees were also used for “gum” used in paints and varnishes.  Europeans would “bleed” the trees until they had no gum left. While these sacred Kauri were being slaughtered, there was nothing the Maori people could do about it. The forest they loved and respected was being destroyed.

As the sky began to darken and twilight was upon us, our guide led us into the forest to see the oldest and largest Kauri trees. These mighty trees can live well over 2,000 years and grow to over 30 meters high. Their width is most impressive, with some trunks as thick as 45 feet in diameter. On our hike this evening, we learned about the history of these trees but more interestingly about the spirituality and the reverence that the Maori tribe has for them. As we walked deeper into the heart of the forest, the colorful plants and trees became more spectacular. When we saw a massive tree, we asked how old it was and Merepaea told us it was only a baby, about 700 or 800 years old. At one point, she showed us a Kauri tree that was two years old. It was no bigger than a blade of grass.

After walking for an hour, we reached our first stop, the “Father of the Forest,” whose name in Maori is “Te Matua Ngahere.” He is over 3,000 years old. Our guide had us approach the tree with our heads down and when she told us to look up, I felt goosebumps all over my body. Standing in front of me was the biggest, most magnificent tree I had ever seen. In that moment, I thought, how could a living species be able to survive all that time. This particular tree was so big that it had over 20 species of other trees, full grown trees, and plants living on it. I was spellbound.

After the hour hike back to our car, we went on to our last stop of the evening, the “Lord of the Forest,” Tane Mahuta. Standing at 108 feet tall and 2,500 years of age, it is the biggest tree in the Waipoua Forest and the largest remaining Kauri tree. When I saw it my heart stopped. I felt like my eyes searched endlessly for the faint outline of the top of this giant. With a prayer from Merepaea, we sat back and silently admired this living legend.

After finishing our tour, on the drive back, I was able to reflect. How could man destroy something so beautiful? I felt blessed not only to see and experience the Kauri trees up close, but also to be able to experience these trees which might not be here much longer. Going back to the quote from Merepaea at the beginning of my story, as human beings we need to learn from the mistakes that the European settlers made and help conserve and protect Mother Nature. There is a disease, a fugus-like pathogen, that is currently killing off the majority of the remaining trees. It is called Kaori Dieback and as of now there is no cure. Sadly, this means that the remaining 2% left of these amazing trees cold disappear completely. My hope is that Mother Nature, with the help of the human race, will team up to save these magnificent trees so that all can enjoy them in the future.