Lone Pine memorials project
Scion, the Crown Research Institute for the forestry and bioproducts sector, has provided approximately 50 seedlings to be planted around New Zealand as First World War memorials. The seedlings, collected from the Turkish red pine (Pinus brutia) at Paeroa Golf Course in 2012, are authenticated descendants of the Gallipoli Lone Pine. They were propagated at Scion’s research nursery by Toby Stovold, a Scion scientist, and have been distributed to RSAs, schools, cenotaphs and gardens as living memorials.
The project began in 2009, when Hawke’s Bay Regional Council offered to donate seedlings from the Paeroa tree to RSAs in the region. Scion decided to expand the project and collected enough seeds to distribute seedlings around New Zealand in time for the Gallipoli centenary in 2015. The Paeroa pine was planted in the 1950s or 1960s from seed a local teacher obtained from the Melbourne Lone Pine tree. This in turn had grown from seeds Australians Sergeant Keith McDowell and Lance-Corporal Benjamin Smith had brought home from Gallipoli after the war.
See related 3 News story and informational video from Scion.
This table gives the known locations of the Lone Pine seedlings distributed by Scion.
| Number of seedlings | Region | Site | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2 | Auckland | Waiuku | Seedlings were planted at Waiuku’s cenotaph and services cemetery. |
| 1 | Auckland | Āwhitu cenotaph | |
| 1 | Auckland | Māngere Bridge War Memorial Hall | |
| 1 | Auckland | University of Auckland | Planted in the university's conservation area |
| 1 | Bay of Plenty | Government Gardens, Rotorua | Planted in front of the cenotaph by Scion's Dr Heidi Dungey and the winners of Rotorua Museum’s ‘My World War I Hero’ story competition, Kate O'Leary and Naianga Tapiata |
| 1 | Bay of Plenty | Te Kaha RSA | |
| 1 | Canterbury | Burnham Military Camp | |
| 1 | Canterbury | Rannerdale Veterane Village, Christchurch | |
| 1 | Canterbury | Park of Remembrance, Christchurch | Planted as part of a memorial garden |
| 1 | Canterbury | Timaru | Planted to commemorate the Battle of Chunuk Bair |
| 1 | Canterbury | Birch Hill Station cemetery | Planted by the Rangiora RSA at the cemetery at Birch Hill Station, from where a group of mounted riflemen departed for the First World War |
| 1 | Canterbury | Papanui RSA, Christchurch | |
| 1 | Canterbury | Banks Peninsula RSA | Planted in 'The Garden of Tane' by his excellency the Governor-General Sir Jerry Mateparae |
| 1 | Canterbury | Ashburton RSA | |
| 1 | Canterbury | University of Canterbury | Planted on Anzac Day 2016 by UoC Chancellor Dr John Wood to mark 100 years of Anzac Day services |
| 1 | Coromandel | Cathedral Cove, Hahei | Planted alongside the memorial forest of native trees at Cathedral Cove |
| 1 | East Coast | Te Araroa RSA | |
| 1 | East Coast | Ruatōria RSA | |
| 2 | Hawke’s Bay | Dannevirke RSA cemetery | On 8 August 2015 Denis Tatere, past company commander in the 7th Battalion, and Bill Ingram, RSA member, planted the trees at the cenotaph on behalf of the Dannevirke and District RSA. |
| 1 | Hawke’s Bay | Ongaonga cenotaph | Accompanied by a memorial plaque |
| 1 | Hawke’s Bay | Ongaonga School | |
| 1 | Hawke’s Bay | Te Mata Peak, Havelock North | Planted in 2013 near an older memorial tree which it will eventually replace |
| 2 | Manawatū | Ashhurst RSA | |
| 2 | Marlborough | Blenheim | |
| 1 | North Otago | Kanes Rd, Corriedale | |
| 3 | South Taranaki | Manaia Golf Course | A copse of three trees is complemented by a commemorative stone and a bench. |
| 1 | Southland | Edendale Primary School | Edendale Primary School is opposite the town's cenotaph. |
| 1 | Southland | Invercargill War Memorial, Dee St | |
| 3 | Volcanic Plateau | National Army Museum, Waiōuru | Planted in a memorial garden on 5 May 2015 to mark the Battle for the Daisy Patch at Gallipoli |
| 1 | Wellington | Unknown | Gift to Hon. Maggie Barry |
| 1 | Wellington | Unknown | Gift to the Turkish Ambassador |
| 1 | Wellington | Unknown | Gift to Sir Peter Jackson |
| 1 | Wellington | Unknown | Gift to Sir Richard Taylor |
| 2 | Wellington | Kāpiti College | |
| 2 | Wellington | Paraparaumu College | |
| 1 | Wellington | Unknown | Sent to Wellington to acclimatise in 2014 |
| 1 | Wellington | Government House, Newtown |
Community contributions