Te Matua Ngahere
Coordinates: 35 ° 36 ′ 27.7 ″ S , 173 ° 31 ′ 42.3 ″ E
Te Matua Ngahere is a large and ancient Kauri tree in the Far North District of Northland on the North Island of New Zealand . It is the second largest tree in the country.
Name meaning
In the Māori language , the name of the tree means "father of the forest" .
geography
The tree is located in Waipoua Forest , west of a parking lot on New Zealand State Highway 12 and can be reached via a 730 m long and around 20-minute walk from the parking lot.
history
The tree was discovered by Nicholas Yakas in 1928 during road works on New Zealand State Highway 12 .
description
The tree, which is estimated to be around 2000 years old, is shorter than the Tāne Mahuta , less than a kilometer north , but has the largest trunk circumference of all trees in New Zealand at 16.41 meters. Its trunk is 10.21 meters high, its total height was 29.9 meters. With 208 m³ it has the second largest volume of all trees in New Zealand after the Tane Mahuta . The Te Matua Ngahere is one of the remnant of a once intact Kauri -Waldes that on the Northland Peninsula existed.
The tree suffered considerable damage in 2007 when winter storms tore down the rata growing in its canopy along with the guide branch and other branches. It is feared that this will shorten the life of the tree by around 300 years. In addition to the rata, fifty other plant species grow on the tree .
tourism
The Te Matua Ngahere is visited in the year from an estimated 50,000 visitors.
Kauri protection
The footpath is paved with wooden slats near the kauri trees so that visitors do not step with their shoes on the forest floor of the trees, which is interspersed with roots. Before visiting the forest, tourists are asked to clean and disinfect their shoe soles. There is a great risk that the roots of the trees will become infected with a fungus called Phytophthora agathidicida , since the sporangium of the fungus can be transmitted to other regions of the forest through contact with a contaminated forest floor. The consequences of a kauri disease known in New Zealand as " Kauri Dieback " ( Kauri dieback) are devastating. The root system of the tree dies and with it the tree. There are no antidotes to cure a sick tree. For this reason, the Department of Conservation in New Zealand asks forest visitors to disinfect their footwear and warns visitors not to leave the prepared paths.
Photo gallery
- Te Matua Ngahere
Photo from 2005
Photo from 2018
Trunk of the tree compared to a human
Information board in front of the tree
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b Information board on the various Kauri trees of the Waipoua Forest , which are well worth seeing , set up at the parking lot for Tāne Mahuta - Photographed (see above) on January 17, 2017
- ↑ Te Matua Ngahere Walk . In: NZ Topo Map . Gavin Harriss , accessed April 30, 2018 .
- ↑ a b Te Matua Ngahere Walk . Department of Conservation , accessed April 30, 2018 .
- ↑ a b Alanah May Eriksen : Storm takes heart of forest king . In: New Zealand Herald . NZME. Publishing , July 12, 2007, accessed April 30, 2018 .
- ↑ What is kauri dieback? . In: Keep Kauri Standing . Department of Conservation , accessed April 30, 2018 .
- ↑ Guides to how you can help save Kauri . In: Kauri Die Back . Department of Conservation , accessed April 30, 2018 .