Moko: Tree of the Year Finalist
The Trust was hugely excited that Moko, our treasured, more than 800 year-old rimu, was announced a finalist for Rākau o te tau - New Zealand Tree of the Year 2024.
For those who don’t know, this event is inspired by the ‘European Tree of the Year’ which began in 2011. It’s not about the biggest or most beautiful tree, but
Photo: Carol West celebrating the heritage that connects us to our trees, and celebrating the trees that play an important part in our future. Which brings us to Moko, possibly the best-loved and most-visited tree in Wellington and considered so important in the place she stands that in 2021 she was gifted her name by mana whenua. Moko hosts an entire forest community in her own right! Crwded over her limbs are epiphytes: astelias, ferns, clubmosses and many other plants including northern rātā and the rare kohurangi, Kirk’s daisy, that was locally extinct in Wellington until its recent return to Ōtari. Forest geckos live in her crown.
In the 1970s Moko and the forest around her were saved from destruction, when plans to cut a road through Ōtari-Wilton’s Bush were stymied by environmentalist, Bob Fantl and supporting locals.
Today the track to Moko is one of the most popular in all of Ōtari. Even a kiwi has been tracked heading her way!
And for an update - being a finlist attracted huge interest and nationwide exposure for Moko and for Ōtari-Wilton’s Bush, even if we didn’t win.
Posted: 7 May 2024