Lahaina, Hawaii — When a devastating wildfire swept through Maui’s Lahaina last August, a wall of flames gutted a 151-year-old banyan tree along the historic town’s Front Street. But the massive tree survived the blaze, and thanks to the efforts of arboriculturists and dedicated volunteers, parts of the tree are growing back and even thriving.
As the fire marks its first anniversary, learn about the banyan tree and the efforts being made to restore it.
The banyan tree is the oldest living tree on Maui, but it is not native to the Hawaiian Islands. India sent the tree as a gift to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the arrival of the first Protestant missionaries in Lahaina. The tree was planted in 1873, 25 years before the Hawaiian Islands became a U.S. territory and 70 years after King Kamehameha declared Lahaina the capital of his kingdom.
The tree is widely loved and fondly remembered by the millions of tourists who have visited Maui over the years, but to many others it is a symbol of colonial rule that took away the land of native Hawaiians and suppressed their language and culture.
For generations, the banyan tree has served as a gathering place on the Lahaina coast. By many accounts, it was the heart of the coastal community. It was over 60 feet (18 m) tall and anchored by multiple trunks that covered nearly an acre.
The giant tree has leafy branches that spread majestically, providing shade from the sun. Aerial roots hang from the branches and eventually attach to the soil to form new stems. The branches spread widely, providing a nesting place for a choir of birds.
The 2023 fire charred the tree and blackened its leaves. But it wasn’t the fire, but the intense heat that caused most of the tree to die, according to Duane Sparkman, chairman of the Maui County Arborist Committee. About half of the tree’s limbs died from moisture loss, he said.
“Once that part of the tree dries out, it can never come back,” he said.
But other parts of the tree are now growing healthily again.
Tree restoration workers remove dead branches to allow the tree’s energy to be transferred to living branches, Sparkman said.
To monitor this energy, 14 sensors were installed on the tree to track the sap flowing through its branches.
“It’s basically a heart monitor,” Sparkman said. “As we treat the tree, its heart rate gets stronger and stronger.”
Sparkman also said he plans to install vertical tubes to help the tree’s aerial roots, which appear to be vertical branches that grow downward toward the ground. The tubes will be filled with compost to provide key nutrients as the branches root into the soil.
The planned irrigation system also supplies small droplets of water to the tubes. The goal is to help the parasitic roots “swell and become the next stable root,” Sparkman said. The system also irrigates the surrounding soil and tree canopies.
“You see a lot of these long, tall branches with hundreds of leaves on them,” Sparkman said, adding that some of the branches are even bearing fruit. “It’s really amazing to see so much of the tree growing back.”
Sparkman estimated that about 25,000 trees were lost in the fires in Lahaina.
This included fruit trees that people grew in their yards, as well as trees important to Hawaiian culture, such as the ulus and breadfruit trees. Of the dozen or so trees that remained, all but two were destroyed by the fire.
After the fire, arborists, farmers, and landscapers, including Sparkman, worked to save the ulus and other culturally significant trees. Before colonization, commercial agriculture, and tourism, thousands of breadfruit trees dotted Lahaina.
To restore Lahaina’s trees, Sparkman founded a nonprofit called Treecovery. He said the group has potted up about 3,500 trees and raised them in “mini nurseries” around the island until people can return them to their homes. That includes some hotels.
“We have growing hubs all over Maui that can grow these trees as needed, so when people are ready, we can have them come and pick them and plant them in their yards,” he said. “It’s important to do this for families.”
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AP writer Audrey McAvoy contributed from Honolulu.
