The Kauri tree is one of the largest and longest living tree species in the world. Ancient Swamp Kauri trees date back to as long as 25,000 - 45,000 years old at the end of the ice age.
They were encapsulated in buried swamps, and there they stayed. Protected by the anaerobic conditions in the swamp, it develops deep, shimmering streaks of iridescence.
There are other ancient trees in the world, but none as old or as numerous as the Kauri.
Today they only grow in New Zealand, where the National Department of Conservation lists them as threatened.
Kauri forests dominated the North Island of New Zealand for tens of thousands of years. When they fell, they plunged deep into nearby peat bogs where they stayed mostly unchanged for a thousand years.
19th century gum diggers were the first to exploit the trees for profit, digging up fields and wetlands in search of buried gum.
In 1985, the New Zealand government banned loggers from cutting live Kauri on public land. Timber merchants then turned their attention to swamp Kauri. They sold exotic wood to furniture makers in New Zealand, USA, and several European and Asian markets.
The industry grew slowly until 2010, then it exploded thanks to demand from a booming China.
In the following years, conservation groups successfully fought to restrain the swamp Kauri industry. In 2018, New Zealand's Supreme Court made the decision to limit swamp Kauri exports.