It’s been over a month since the Maui wildfires and, in that time, progress has been made to heal the land and the people who live there. They still have a long road ahead of them, but recent progress found at a historic site is giving people hope. In downtown Lahaina, there stands a massive banyan tree. According to the Lahaina Restoration Foundation, it was planted in 1873 as part of the 50th anniversary celebration of the town’s first Protestant mission.
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When it was first planted, the tree stood at 8 feet tall — now, it’s over 60 feet high. But when the Maui fires ran rampant, the tree took a hit. Ever since then, arborists have been working hard to save it. Now, there’s proof that what they’ve been doing is working.
In a video the Hawaii Department of Land and Natural Resources shared on Vimeo, bright green buds can be seen growing from the tree.
“On the tree, as soon as we see a new bud pop or something like that, then we know that the tree’s responding to our treatments, or we may have to change our treatments,” Steve Nimz, the arborist heading the recovery operation, said. “The tree is going to tell us what to do.”
Although it will take time, these new buds are a sign that recovery is possible. During times of such great loss and grief, signs of hope can be all the more powerful.
“Our branches are very badly burned, and it’s going to take a really, really long time until everything feels normal,” Annelise Cochran, a Maui resident who helped neighbors escape, told PEOPLE. “But the roots are so strong here.”
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