A sacred archaeological site on Ōwairaka Mt Albert has been "significantly and irreversibly" damaged by the illegal planting of 27 trees. Photo / NZME
A sacred archaeological site on Ōwairaka Mt Albert has been "significantly and irreversibly" damaged by the illegal planting of 27 trees. Photo / NZME
The illegal planting of 27 trees on an Auckland mountain has "significantly and irreversibly" damaged a sacred archaeological site dating back 1000 years.
The Tūpuna Maunga Authority (TMA) said the planting was in an area previously unmodified, damaging archaeological material from a historic pā settlement.
Illegal modification of the landscape on Ōwairaka is prosecutable under the Reserves Act 1977 and the Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga Act 2014. The damage was reported to Heritage New Zealand.
TMA chair Paul Majurey said the sacred site at Ōwairaka appeared to have been deliberately changed. A large area around the planted trees was damaged with herbicide, "deepening the damage" to the maunga.
The illegal planting of 27 trees on Ōwairaka Mt Albert has disturbed a previously unmodified area dating back almost 1000 years. Photo / Supplied
Protesters had earlier rejected plans by the TMA to remove 345 exotic trees and replace them with up to 13,000 plants and trees.
Protest group Honour the Maunga (HTM) held a sit-in at the site to stop contractors from cutting the trees down. The plan was halted after a successful appeal in court.
The TMA had earlier been set up as a group to which ownership of Auckland's 14 tūpuna maunga (ancestral mountains) could be returned to 13 iwi.
The plan to revegetate Ōwairaka/Mt Albert maunga was linked to a wider plan to restore native flora, fauna, culture and mana to a landscape changed by colonisation.
The HTM group, many of whom had grown up in the area, had earlier told how they regularly walked the mountain and felt a deep connection to the towering oak and gum trees that had been in line for the chop.
In taking the matter to the Court of Appeal they argued the plan breached the Reserves Act and didn't allow for enough public consultation.
At one section the illegal planting of trees spans a historic pā terrace and there is also evidence of disturbed midden, or ancient shell deposits dating to the pā site. Photo / NZME
The Court of Appeal's three judges found the plan should have been publicly notified as required by the Resource Management Act, setting aside the council consent.
Earlier, the High Court had previously found the authority and Auckland Council both acted lawfully when granting consent to remove the trees on a non-notified basis.
Majurey said the spiritual, ancestral, cultural, customary and historical significance of the mountains of the original peoples of Auckland, Maunga to Ngā Mana Whenua o Tāmaki Makaurau, guided the management of the mountain.
"This means, as part of the authority restoration programme we look at all these factors – ensuring the least damage to the archaeology of the maunga as possible."
"It is tragic that there are people desecrating this ancestral Maunga and taonga in complete disregard to cultural significance of this taonga," he said.
TMA staff and contractors would monitor activity on Ōwairaka closely, Majurey said.
The authority worked closely with archaeologists and other experts for legitimate plantings.
"We have a zero-tolerance of unauthorised digging on the maunga and anyone found responsible for such activity will be prosecuted. We are seeking information from anyone who might know something about this."
Other historic sites on Auckland maunga have been damaged before. Ōtāhuhu Mt Richmond was damaged in October 2018, and Takarunga Mt Victoria was damaged in September 2019.
