Protected Ōpōtiki pōhutukawa trees felled, Bay of Plenty Regional Council investigates

One of the protected pōhutukawa trees felled in a "deliberate" act in the Onekawa Te Mawhai regional park.

An authority investigating the felling of protected pōhutukawa in a Bay of Plenty regional park says the culprit has ruined things “for generations to come”.

Regional council coastal catchments lead Charles Harley said it would “take some time” for the coastal forest in Ōpōtiki to regenerate.

The council was notified last week through the Queen Elizabeth II National Trust after someone reported the vandalism. The land is part of a trust-protected area, “which recognises its significant biodiversity and heritage”, Harley said.

He said the damaged trees were estimated to be 20 to 30 years old.

“While this isn’t old in pōhutukawa years, they were well-established medium- to large-size trees, and they are protected under law in the Ōpōtiki district . . .”

The trees were inside the Onekawa Te Mawhai regional park, which borders the beach. They were between Bryans Beach and the Ōhiwa Spit on the beach side of the park.

Harley said there were no houses in the area and whoever felled the trees would have intentionally accessed it by driving over the dunes.

The regional council was following leads to track down who was responsible.

It had also visited the site to assess the damage.

“From what we can see, a small slip had come down behind the trees and someone has probably assumed they were damaged or dead,” Harley said.

“However, the person has gone in and chopped down live trees and cleared the area.”

He described this as “deliberate” as they would have driven across the dunes, felled the trees and taken the wood.

Harley said pōhutukawa were nationally significant trees native to Aotearoa and legally protected in Ōpōtiki.

“As an organisation dedicated to the protection and restoration of the environment, this behaviour is really disappointing, particularly as these trees were part of a regional park that everyone is able to enjoy and benefit from.

“It will take some time for this part of the coastal forest to regenerate. Destroying them is not only detrimental to the ecological significance to the area, including the animal and bird life, but ruins it for generations to come.”

He said the felling had not been reported to police as it was a relatively small-scale event and the council’s current approach was education and awareness.

“That’s not to rule out taking any future incidents further.”

Kiri Gillespie is an assistant news director and a senior journalist for the Bay of Plenty Times and Rotorua Daily Post, specialising in local politics and city issues. She was a finalist for the Voyager Media Awards Regional Journalist of the Year in 2021.