Living memorials projects

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.

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