When a deadly wildfire tore through Lahaina on Maui last August, the wall of flames scorched the 151-year-old banyan tree along the historic town’s Front Street. But the sprawling tree survived the blaze, and thanks to the efforts of arborists and dedicated volunteers, parts of it are growing back – and even thriving.
For generations, the banyan tree served as a gathering place along Lahaina’s waterfront. By many accounts, it was the heart of the oceanside community – towering more than 60ft (18m) high and anchored by multiple trunks that span nearly an acre.
The enormous tree has leafy branches that unfurl majestically and offer shade from the sun. Aerial roots dangle from its boughs and eventually latch onto the soil to become new trunks. Branches splay out widely, becoming roosting places for choirs of birds.
The tree is widely beloved and fondly remembered by millions of tourists who have visited Maui over the years. But for many others it is a symbol of colonial rule that has dispossessed Native Hawaiians of their land and suppressed their language and culture.
Because while the banyan tree is the oldest living one on Maui, it is not a species indigenous to the Hawaiian Islands. India shipped the tree as a gift to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the arrival of the first Protestant missionaries to live in Lahaina. It was planted in 1873, a quarter century before the Hawaiian Islands became a US territory and seven decades after King Kamehameha declared Lahaina the capital of his kingdom.
The 2023 fire that erupted on 8 August and killed more than a hundred people was devastating for the tree as well. The flames charred the tree and blackened many of its leaves. But it wasn’t the flames so much as the intense heat that was generated that dried out much of the tree, according to Duane Sparkman, chair of the Maui county arborist committee. As a result of this loss of moisture, about half of the tree’s branches died, he said.
“Once that section of the tree desiccated, there was no coming back,” he said.
But other parts of the tree are now growing back healthy.
Those working to restore the tree removed the dead branches so that the tree’s energy would go toward the branches that were alive, Sparkman said.
To monitor that energy, 14 sensors were screwed into the tree to track the flows of cambium, or sap, through its branches.
“It’s basically a heart monitor,” Sparkman said. “As we’ve been treating the tree, the heartbeat’s getting stronger and stronger and stronger.”
Sparkman said there are also plans to install vertical tubes to help the tree’s aerial roots, which appear to be vertical branches that grow down toward the ground. The tubes will contain compost so as to provide the branches with key nutrients when they take root in the soil.
after newsletter promotion
A planned irrigation system will also feed small drops of water into the tubes. The goal, Sparkman said, is to help those aerial roots “bulk up and become the next stabilizer root”. The system will also irrigate the surrounding land and the tree’s canopy.
“You see a lot of long, long branches with hundreds of leaves back on the tree,” Sparkman said, adding that some branches are even producing fruit. “It’s pretty amazing to see that much of the tree come back.”
Sparkman estimates that Lahaina lost some 25,000 trees in the fire.
These included the fruit trees that people grew in their yards as well as trees that are significant in Hawaiian culture, such as the ulu, or breadfruit, tree; the fire charred all but two of the dozen or so that remained.
Since the blaze, a band of arborists, farmers and landscapers – including Sparkman – has set about trying to save the ulu and other culturally important trees. Before colonialism, commercial agriculture and tourism, thousands of breadfruit trees dotted Lahaina.
To help restore Lahaina’s trees, Sparkman founded a nonprofit called Treecovery. The group has potted some 3,500 trees, he said, growing them in “micro-nurseries” across the island, including at some hotels, until people can move back into their homes.
“We have grow hubs all over the island of Maui to grow these trees out for as long as they need. So when the people are ready, we can have them come pick these trees up and they can plant them in their yards,” he said. “It’s important that we do this for the families.”