Lahaina Banyan Tree

This week, while on vacation in Hawaii, we took the boys to see the great banyan tree in Lahaina, Maui. I’d been following the restoration and recovery efforts since devastating fires decimated the town and took 102 lives in August 2023. Homes, businesses, and landmarks were destroyed in a matter of minutes. The world watched as flames swept with fury through the streets.

One of the most heartbreaking images of the destruction was that of Lahaina’s banyan tree covered in gray ash and soot. The relentless fires were unsparing in their pursuit and caused severe damage to the majestic centerpiece of the town.

The tree, originally an eight-foot sapling, was a gift from Indian missionaries in 1873. Over 150 years, the tree grew to sixty feet, and its canopy spread almost two-thirds of an acre, an entire city block. One thousand people could find shelter in its shade.

Before the fires. Photo Credit Moomba21 via Wikipedia

Banyan trees are unique in how they grow. Roots sprout from the branches and descend to the ground soil, forming new trunks around the main trunk. Before the fires, Lahaina’s tree had grown to include sixteen additional major trunks, and over sixty smaller trunks.

This tree was very much the heart of the community, a symbol of the unity of its people. The threat of losing something so important and historic hurt, and there had already been so much hurt.

But that’s not the end of the story.

Shortly after the fire, an arborist discovered that, despite being badly burned, the main trunk still contained live tissue. A month later, there were reports of fresh sprouts of leaves. Signs pointed to a possible recovery.

In March 2024, a team of consulting arborists removed and trimmed forty percent of the tree—all the dead branches and trunks—and concentrated their efforts toward the parts of the tree showing signs of recovery. The scientists installed a new irrigation system, injected compost into nearby soil, placed sensors on the main trunk to act like heart monitors, and gave the tree steady attention.

Today, the tree is still vulnerable and the surrounding park remains closed off to the public to allow it more space and time to heal. But slowly, and with consistent care, the tree is showing signs of restoration.

This tree has become a symbol of resilience. It’s a reminder that all is never lost, even when a lot of it is.

It’s also such a good lesson in what it takes to survive.

When devastation hits—and it can hit in so many different ways—it leaves what remains fragile and vulnerable.

Lahaina’s banyan tree was and is the heart of that town.

But broken hearts are still fighting hearts. They may be battered, but they’re still fighting.

That fight requires time, water, new soil, and vigilance. It also takes pruning and removing damaged branches and unproductive roots to redirect all energy to restoration.

That which is dead cannot serve that which lives.

So there’s no sense hanging onto dead weight or giving it any attention.

Broken hearts can heal. But sometimes they need a little help.

Don’t give up, banyan tree. We’re cheering you on.

Love to Lahaina.

Like this object-based story telling? My memoir, Piece by Piece: A Life Remembered through Things Lost, is available here. 📖💙