As Hawaii officials reckon with the damage from the Maui wildfires, local residents are reportedly devastated by the potential damage to the historic banyan tree in the town of Lahaina.
Thanks to a freak combination of heavy winds from Hurricane Dora, wildfire destruction spread over much of Hawaii’s Big Island and Maui, where a beloved 150-year-old banyan tree rests. Social media posts have shown the historic tree being significantly charred and satellite imagery has confirmed that the banyan tree is burnt but still standing as of this writing.
As for the chances of its survival, local officials have said the banyan tree “might be salvageable,” according to the latest update from KHON2 out of Honolulu.
The Washington Post reports:
According to the Lahaina Restoration Foundation, the tree was planted in 1873 to mark the 50th anniversary of the first Protestant mission in Lahaina. Over the years, residents have helped the tree to grow symmetrically by hanging water-filled jars on specific aerial roots.
Kaniela Ing, a former member of Hawaii’s House of Representatives, tweeted an image of the damaged Banyan tree and called it “a tragic symbol of the climate emergency.”
Outside of its spiritual significance to Hawaiians, the San Francisco Chronicle reports that the Lahaina banyan tree is not just the oldest tree on the islands, but the largest banyan tree in all of the U.S.