Tree poaching in native forests

Visitors to Pureora Forest Park are being urged to report suspicious activity after a spate of illegal tree felling.

Department of Conservation principal compliance officer Matt Davis said dozens of trees and shrubs at sites in the forest park and Tongariro Forest Conservation Area had been removed or hacked down.

“It’s a breach of the Conservation Act to fell native trees on public conservation land, or remove native plants from those areas. No-one has the right to remove or fell native trees in this way,” Matt said.

“We’re calling on the public to be our eyes and ears and call 0800 DOC HOT if they see or hear trees being felled, or wood being removed.”

A spokesperson for Tūwharetoa, Wairi Rauhine, said news that poaching was underway on tribal land was devastating to the generation of Māori who still had an understanding of the bush and what it provided.

“There’s still that generation around – those who used to use the bush as a place to get old [traditional] kai, and I don’t mean wood pigeons. When you are walking among those old trees, they are just magnificent to see. They may not be kauri but they are tall as [can be]. And seeing them always provides us with a real connection to our land. The news that they are being cut down like this is just so sad for us,” Wairi said.

He is unsure why the trees are being taken, but if it is for firewood, he has a message for those involved.

“Why don’t you go and cut yourself down a pine – they only take 20 years to grow.”

In the Pureora Forest incidents, two rimu trees – one estimated to be up to 600 years old – were felled and left at the scene. The trunk of the larger tree, measuring up to 25m in height, had been removed from the site by DOC.

Elsewhere in Pureora, near the isolated Waihora Lagoon, a 25-metre-tall matai had been felled, along with several smaller trees.

These are all close to an unauthorised structure DOC staff have deemed an illegal campsite.

Removal of logs and other plant material reduces the habitat for fungi, invertebrates and other elements of the ecosystem and lessens nutrient recycling within the forest.

Large native trees are also roost sites for colonies of native bats, and song posts for kokakō.

“By felling that single matai tree, these people have destroyed the habitat and homes of other species DOC and iwi and conservation partners work hard to protect,” Matt said.

“It will take generations for that tree to be replaced.”

Further south, DOC staff have discovered up to 30 trees felled near Ōwhango on the western edge of the Tongariro Forest Conservation Area. Tī koūka (cabbage), māhoe, horopito, kamahi, puka and other trees have been hacked down and dumped at the site to create a clearing.

“Possible motivations for illegal tree felling include use of the timber for landscaping or firewood, or to create a clearing for hunting. None of these are acceptable,” Matt said.

The illegal removal or harvesting of trees or plants from public conservation land can result in a fine of up $100,000 and two years in jail. If the offending continues, further fines of $10,000 a day can be imposed.