Northland kauri forest giant Tāne Mahuta to close for several days for repairs to boardwalk

Access to Northland kauri forest giant Tāne Mahuta will be closed for a few days next week for repairs to the boardwalk and viewing platform.

Northland kauri forest giant Tāne Mahuta will be closed to the public next week while work is carried out on the boardwalk and viewing platform to help protect the ancient tree from kauri dieback.

The Department of Conservation (DoC) will close public access to Tāne Mahuta, in Waipoua Forest, from Monday, November 16 to about Thursday, November 19 to undertake repairs to the viewing platform.

Although DoC appreciates there may be some public disappointment at not being able to see Tāne Mahuta at this time, there is still the opportunity to visit Te Matua Ngahere and other great kauri at Trounson Kauri Park and Waiotemarama during this time.

The work around Tāne Mahuta will continue to help provide protection to Waipoua Forest from kauri dieback.

Please check the DoC website or call the Kauri Coast DoC office (09) 439 3450 for reopening information as weather, and other factors may push work out. Tāne Mahuta ('Lord of the Forest') is New Zealand's largest known living kauri tree.

It is thought the first encounter of the tree by Pākehā was in the 1920s, by contractors surveying the present State Highway 12 through the forest. In 1928, Nicholas Yakas and other bushmen who were building the road also came across the big tree Tāne Mahuta.

According to Māori mythology Tāne is the son of Ranginui the sky father and Papatuanuku the earth mother. Tāne was the child that tore his parents' embrace and once done set about clothing his mother in the forest we have here today. All living creatures of the forest are regarded as Tāne's children.

Its trunk girth is 13.77m and trunk height 17.68m, with a total height of 51.2m. Its trunk volume is 244.5 m³.

About Kauri Dieback:

Kauri dieback can kill kauri of all ages. It's a disease caused by a microscopic fungus-like organism, called Phytophthora agathidicida (PA). It lives in the soil and infects kauri roots, damaging the tissues that carry nutrients and water within the tree, effectively starving it to death.

There's no proven cure or treatment, and nearly all infected kauri die.

The disease is easily spread through soil movements, eg. when soil is carried on dirty footwear, animals, equipment and vehicles. A pinhead size of soil is enough to spread the disease.

Even though a lot of infected kauri will show physical disease symptoms, a tree can still be infected and not show any symptoms of the disease at all.