A reverence for trees - Tane Mahuta

Seemingly appearing like Lilliput’s children at the foot of the majestic giant, visitors come from all over the world to worship this tree.

The world of Tane Mahuta must have been quite something. There was a time when there would have been hundreds of thousands of trees the size of Tane Mahuta. Sadly, now you can count on your fingers and toes the number of these 1000-2000 year old, pre-colonial, kauri trees surviving in New Zealand. Tane Mahuta now stands alone, a reminder of mans stupidity, but nevertheless a wonder for all those who are fortunate enough to cast their eyes up to it.

Although only 51m tall, Tane Mahuta has an incredible presence, with it’s almost 14m girth all the way up, no tapering of the trunk, it stands as a gentle giant amongst the diminutive regenerating forest around it. These forest giants were first exploited for timber and then just trashed and burnt as quickly as possible in the rush to plant pastures for cattle and sheep. Ancient and venerable old kauri’s like these carry on their shoulders a whole other forest, a wide range of epiphytes both large and small, including the extraordinary climbing Rata tree. New Zealand sights like this might be awesome locations for making fantasy films, but these giants are no fantasy, just a reminder of what a fantastic environment we could have been surrounded by if greed hadn’t been such a natural human trait. Live on Tane Mahuta and bring joy and wonder to all who visit