A deadly wildfire tore through part of Hawaii last August. In Lahaina on the island of Maui, a wall of flames scorched a 151-year-old banyan tree. The huge tree survived the blaze. Experts and volunteers cared for it. Now parts of it are growing back—and even thriving.
Why is Lahaina’s banyan tree so important?
The banyan tree is the oldest living one on Maui. But it is not native to the Hawaiian Islands. India shipped the tree there as a gift long ago. The gift honored the 50th anniversary of Protestant missionaries arriving to live in Lahaina. The banyan was planted in 1873. Back then, Hawaii wasn’t part of the United States yet.
Millions of tourists have visited Maui over the years. Many love the tree. For generations, people gathered under its shade. It towers more than 60 feet high. Its trunks span nearly an acre. The leafy branches offer shade from the Sun. Roots dangle from boughs. Eventually, they latch onto the soil to become new trunks.
What happened to the banyan during the fire?
The 2023 fire charred the tree. It blackened many of its leaves. The intense heat dried out much of the tree. Because of this, about half the branches died. (Read Banyan Tree Burned to learn more.)
How do you save a half-burned tree? Remove the dead branches. After that, the tree’s energy can go toward the branches that remain alive.
People also screwed 14 sensors into the tree. These track the flow of sap through its branches. Duane Sparkman is an arborist in Maui. He compares the sensors to a heart monitor. “As we’ve been treating the tree, the heartbeat’s getting stronger and stronger and stronger,” he says.
Next, people will install vertical tubes around the tree. These will help the tree’s roots. The tubes contain compost to give the roots nutrients in the soil. An irrigation system will also feed small drops of water into the tubes. The system will water the surrounding land and the tree’s canopy too.
“You see a lot of long, long branches with hundreds of leaves back on the tree,” Mr. Sparkman says. Some branches are even producing fruit.
Of course, the famous banyan isn’t the only tree that suffered from the fire. Around 25,000 others were destroyed. These included breadfruit trees. Breadfruit is a local staple food. Since the blaze, arborists, farmers, and landscapers have worked to save trees—especially breadfruit trees.
Mr. Sparkman started Treecovery. His group has potted some 3,500 trees. They’re growing in “micro-nurseries” across the island.
And out of the ground the Lord God made to spring up every tree that is pleasant to the sight and good for food. — Genesis 2:9
