Three Tribes, Three Forests: Protecting the kauri from fire and disease

In Minnesota, red pines reach high into the sky at 150-plus feet. There are even local scavenger hunts looking for a jumbo tree of each species. In South America, the Mapuche people are in awe of the monkey puzzle tree for both its size and life-giving seeds. And for Southeast Asia, the strangler fig sits as a temple guard. But these mammoth trees, revered in cultures across the world, are all under threat from wildfires.

New Zealand’s own canopy king is the kauri tree. Last year, a wildfire in the coastal Waipoua grove burned many of the sacred trees. The kauri is New Zealand’s answer to the giant sequoia. The largest of the bunch, Tāne Mahuta or “God of the Forest,” survived this round. But conservationists are concerned more fire will come.

“This fire wasn’t a one-off, it was a warning,” said Snow Tane, general manager of Te Roroa Group, the tribal team tasked with preserving the kauri in Northland, New Zealand. “We don’t see ourselves as owning this forest. We see ourselves as related to it.”

The Waipoua Fire charred 223 acres between February and March 2025. Starting with an out-of-control trash burn, the blaze required 100 firefighters, eight helicopters and many pieces of heavy equipment to save homes and the protected trees. ​​

“It's not just a tree, it’s an ancestor, Tane said. “When a kauri is harmed, it’s not just environmental damage, it’s a spiritual wound.”

Kauri trees are the apex trees of the Northland temperate rainforests. They are the true crown of the “Crown Lands,” which are federally protected spaces in New Zealand. These trees now occupy less than a tenth of their former habitat. Logging, ranching and plant disease like kauri dieback are all responsible for the decline over the last 100 years.

Dieback is a microscopic pathogen that starves the vascular system of the giant trees; once the disease reaches a new tree, it’s a slow death with no cure. Not only does the fungus-like pathogen kill centuries-old trees; it also dries out the canopy, further adding to wildfire risk in Northland.

The disease is often spread by invasive pests like stoats and possums. The same is true in northern Minnesota, where spruce budworm underwent its largest outbreak since 1961. The pest leaves behind dry and brittle trees, and we saw the impact during the “July Lightning Incident” fires during the summer of 2026. All told, those Minnesota fires charred nearly 70,000 acres across the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness.

In New Zealand’s Opua gro