November 13, 2019
Tree Council backs removal of Owairaka rakau
The Tree Council has come out in favour of the Tūpuna Maunga Authority’s plan to remove 345 exotic trees from Owairaka-Mount Albert.
Neighbours are blocking contractors from going on the maunga to remove what the authority says are monkey apples and olive trees.
The Tree Council says while large established trees can play a positive role in environment whether they are exotic or native, the long-term outcomes of removing exotic and weed species and restoring the native ecology will be hugely positive for Mt Albert residents and the whole of Auckland.
It says the Tūpuna Maunga Authority publicly notified its Integrated Management Plan in 2016 and has run regular public hui about the management of each of the maunga under its control,
It’s a cultural issue as much as it is an ecological one, and The Tree Council supports the Tūpuna Maunga Authority's autonomy over how they want to manage their Maunga, having finally had them returned to them under the Treaty after at least 180 years of colonial control.
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