Wanaka Tree, before March 17.
Why would someone do something like that? It is the question that the New Zealand media launched on March 17 when the disaster was discovered.
#ThatWanakaTree , as New Zealand's most famous tree is known on social media,** had been felled**. One of its branches, which perhaps made it more emblematic, it had been cut with a chainsaw and dumped on the shore with no one being able to do anything about it.
The willow, which has survived the latest floods in New Zealand , has been in Lake Wanaka for more than 20 years , so the disappointment and sadness is even greater if possible.
Wanaka Tree it is one more symbol of this sacred place for the Maori, who inhabited these lands thousands of years ago. Since then it has remained intact and bucolic, because its branches disappeared and appeared depending on the water level.
Hundreds of photographers from all over the world came to photograph it.
It had always been known, but it was in 2014 when the photographer Dennis Radermacher won the Landscape award in the magazine New Zealand Geographic.
“The willow tree at Lake Wanaka it is possibly the most photographed tree in New Zealand. Dennis Radermacher was also drawn to it on a misty winter morning. Wetland willows line Lake Wanaka and form a distinctive golden backdrop, but only one is found in the water . "The Lonely Tree" has withstood the ups and downs of the water for at least 20 years. Its bare branches offer a resting place for foliage.
From then on it became popular with the hashtag, #ThatWanakaTree on Instagram, and hundreds of photographers and tourists have visited it to immortalize it.
"This tree, which emerges from the water, has something surreal that makes every photographer take an interest in it. The mountains in the background help to frame it in a perfect way," explained a photographer for Stuff, one of the first media to echo of the news
On March 17 the locals woke up with bad news . Someone had taken advantage of the chaos caused by the coronavirus to cut down the branches that touched the water. Some neighbors, as reported by the media, thought that the branches had broken when supporting someone's weight, but they realized that they had been perfectly cut when approaching.
At the moment the authorship of the vandals is not known, but the New Zealand police are investigating and they ask that anyone who can provide information contact them.
A COUNTRY THAT LIVES FOR ITS NATURE
the environment of Wanaka Tree is one of the most beautiful in the south of the island, specifically it is located in the Mount Aspiring National Park , which is part of the Wahipounamu Tea , declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO. Only in this place is one of the most curious species in the world, kea , an alpine parrot endowed with intelligence superior to that of monkeys, according to a recent study in the journal Nature.
But it is not the only park that the country carefully protects... A few months ago we told you about another of the environmental catastrophes that it was trying to deal with: a disease in the kauris , the sacred ancient trees.
In this sense, the country is one of the few in the world that has strict environmental regulations. Every time a tourist arrives in the country he must accept the Tiaki Promise , the promise that during the trip they will protect the natural environment of the country. In Maori, tiaki means to protect. Here you can find out much more.