Endangered pine forest grown with people's cremated ashes opens

The death of a 10-year-old girl has moved her parents to open a memorial forest grown with people's ashes near the Blue Mountains.

Warning: This story contains details of a child's accidental death.

Piper's Ridge Sanctuary at Wallerawang opened on Saturday and is the first of its kind in New South Wales.

It is part of the Living Legacy Forest network, which infuses people's cremated ashes with a tree as a growing memorial.

Deborah Fung and Adrian Chen have planted more than 600 critically endangered Wollemi pines below the cliff lines of the Gardens of Stone State Conservation Area for people to dedicate to a loved one.

Mr Chen said spending time with the tree devoted to his daughter, Tegan, felt like a clear contrast to visiting her burial site in Sydney.

"I just felt when I was going there we kept bringing flowers, and then they'd die," he said.

"It's like this plot, versus the picture and idea of a tree and seeing it continuing to flourish.

"This is a representation that her life can actually continue on."

Tegan's last bushwalk

On Tegan's last day alive, the Chen family was bushwalking along the Lake Marian Falls Track on New Zealand's South Island in January 2024.

"Tegan was so full of life, and she was definitely the most tenacious [of our kids]," Ms Fung said.

"She loved the outdoors, and she was 100 per cent just living it up and running around.

"[The kids] were looking at all the beautiful mossy trees and she would look at all the detail."

Mr Chen vividly recalled one of his final moments with his daughter along the trail.

"Tegan just came and gave me a big hug — it wasn't just a short hug — I really still remember the warmth of her body," he said.

The kids ran off ahead of him, and when Mr Chen reached them, they were standing at the edge of some rocks next to the rushing Marian Creek.

"I was looking at her, and then I saw her lose her balance and then she fell in," he said.

"The last thing I said to her was, 'Baby girl, feet first, try and grab a tree.'"

Mr Chen ran along the trail to keep up with Tegan, while one of his sons went to alert Ms Fung who had walked further ahead.

Tegan managed to climb onto a rock before she was swept away by the water.

"I did see her hit a rock and there was a bit of a big waterfall section there," he said.

"Then I lost sight of her."

Four other walkers who were helping Mr Chen found Tegan caught in a tree that had fallen across the river.

They started giving the 10-year-old CPR while emergency services worked to reach the group.

Tegan could not be revived.

Tree for Tegan a 'glimmer of comfort'

In the middle of the family's grief in New Zealand, Ms Fung remembered the moment their friend Warren Roberts called.

Mr Roberts is the founder of Living Legacy Forest, and said he wanted to dedicate a tree to Tegan.

"I just remember breaking down," Ms Fung said.

"That was this glimmer of comfort."

Later on, some friends gifted the family 13 Manchurian pear trees that they planted at their nearby property in Tegan's honour, while two schools she attended also dedicated trees to their former student.

Mr Chen said it was these living memorials of his daughter that stirred the couple to consider starting their own version for others.

"I didn't want to just go back to life as it was minus Tegan," he said.

He reflected that her deep care for others was a value he wanted to embody with Piper's Ridge Sanctuary.

"It's not just a garden for the sake of a garden. How do we actually help people heal?" he said.

Ashes used to grow trees

The cost of a Wollemi pine at the property is up to $14,000 and includes services such as ongoing care and a planting ceremony.

"Ashes are very acidic, and human remains ashes have been known to … kill trees," Ms Fung said.

Living Legacy Forest has developed a process to liquefy the ashes and change the pH level to nourish tree growth.

"We create a borehole down into the root area and people can, in the same way you put dirt on a coffin when it's being lowered, pour some of the ashes in liquid form into the root of the tree," Ms Fung said.

Warren Roberts said Ms Fung and Mr Chen would put their "heart and soul" into the forest, which will simultaneously help preserve the ancient Wollemi pine.

"For the last 200 years we've been chopping down trees to create space for graveyards and make coffins," he said.

"We've been destroying life to try to honour life."

A forest will soon be opening in Queensland, while the organisation already has properties in Victoria, Western Australia, New South Wales and South Australia.

"People can become trees … create habitat for wildlife and endangered species … and change the way we leave the world," Mr Roberts said.