"I have some climbing skills. I offered to climb up the tree to sit up here to buy some time so the people on the ground can get this decision reversed. What motivates me is that cutting down a tree this majestic and this old is simply wrong.
"I was part of some successful campaigns in Australia to enlarge the Tasmanian wilderness World Heritage Area."
He said he was very comfortable in the tree, where he has spent two nights.
He is using some of his own climbing gear and some supplied by others, including a stretcher that allows him, tucked up in a sleeping bag and lying on a sleeping mat, to slumber horizontally.
"The weather is very clement, I'm well fed, I'm doing exercises to keep my body healthy."
"I'm able to stay up here as long as it takes to get the protection of this tree."
"I'm confident that the council meeting tomorrow morning might produce something. I'm just creating space for that conversation to keep happening. If the tree was felled, and then it came to light that something was wrong, you can't put it back - I'm pressing pause on the whole process.
"I accept that I have broken the law. I was issued a trespass notice from the ground."
Mr Tavares said he knew it was private property but he believed the tree was a "national treasure" and he was prepared to "put myself on the line" to make sure the time was provided for the process to be made right.
Asked about toileting arrangements, he said, "Everything is very hygienic and I'm respecting the sacredness of this tree by not polluting it at all. I'm very well supported with good systems for getting things in and out."
When asked if that meant buckets, he said, "Yeah - it's all very secure and hygienic."
Politicians discuss Kauri tree situation
Labour's David Cunliffe, MP for New Lynn, met with Auckland deputy mayor Penny Hulse and council officers about the Kauri tree in Auckland this afternoon.
Mr Cunliffe, accompanied by Greg Presland and Saffron Toms from the Waitakere Ranges Local Board, said the group were expecting "a full briefing on the decisions that they've made".
"We're here today representing people from around New Zealand who want to make sure that if this tree can be saved it will be," he said.
"They want to make sure that this is not the new normal where 500 trees can be felled without a notified consent."
Mr Cunliffe, who was unsure whether the resource consent for the tree's feeling could be reversed, wanted to find out how it was issued in the first place.
"Why was a non-notified consent issued when a consultant's report said the effects would be more than minor? Were the effective provisions of the Waitakere Ranges heritage area act considered fully by council officers and what options are now available for those who wish to oppose the felling to take further legal action if any."
