Conservation Comment: The tree that saved the forest

A tui amongst rata flowers. Photo / Getty Images

The youthful chatter stops and some mouths drop open. "Wows" ring out and then the chatter resumes as the children scatter over the deck, some craning their heads back and others bustling around a sign with bright pictures.

They are in the presence of a being that has endured against the odds for centuries — Ratanui the big rata tree of Tarapuruhi/ Bushy Park.

For me the tree qualifies as a kaitiaki, a guardian with some metaphysical qualities that augment its scientific description.

The odds of it surviving on a beautiful volcanic loam soil close to Whanganui were less than 1 per cent. Quick conversion of forest to farmland by the axe and match was regarded as wondrous progress in the 1800s. Forest crowned with ancient rata and filled with birdsong almost all turned to ash.

The story of the bargain basement sale of thousands of hectares inland from Kai Iwi to the Moore family can be told later, but there is evidence that Nga Rauru were clear that there was something very special about the biggest rata.

Somehow this was absorbed by the new Pākehā family and although they prospered from the 'forest to farm' gold rush, they curiously preserved the ancient tree and a 100 hectare buffer. It became an attraction for visitors and GF Moore left the park and its beautiful homestead to Forest and Bird to keep the faith in respecting natural heritage.

As we well know in this land, merely stopping land clearance does not save nature from the depredations of introduced pests. For a period possums and rats were rampant in a forest they found entirely to their liking. Possums versus rata is a cruel mismatch. The rata family, which includes pohutukawa and many tropical relatives all the way to Hawai'i, never colonised Australia where ravenous possums lurked.

Rata leaves are quite waxy and tough but emerging above moa height the new growth is soft and tasty in a way that makes it icecream for possums who will return to every new flush of growth until they have killed even giant trees.

For our hero tree disaster was averted by the inheritors of the Bushy Park dream. Generations of volunteers had come to support the park but it all went next level this century when predator-proof fencing ended the era of the furry Aussie vandals.

Few New Zealanders have seen the true magnificence of native forest that has had decades of recovery from browsing and many flock to Tarapuruhi/ Bushy Park where an increasing range of birds have regained their confidence to fossick unafraid within centimetres of visitors.

The main path leads them to an ancient tree and while you may have qualms about the word 'metaphysical', there is a presence felt by even the least spiritual when they walk to Ratanui's great sides.

Mature visitors often sit in contemplation of a living thing bigger and older than whales, one that has endured the tumultuous ecological transformation around it and inspired enlightened conservation with a vision of paradise that could be regained. For the many children who come there is also something deeply felt about sheer size and endurance.

GF Moore and the original inhabitants, Nga Rauru — who have also endured, would be happy about that.

Keith Beautrais is educator at Tarapuruhi / Bushy Park