Puketapapa from Owairaka

This afternoon I went to Owairaka, or Mount Albert. Unlike the first time I went there after the protest camp had been set up, there was not much evidence of birds. Possibly the time was wrong. 

The protest camp is in opposition to plans announced for removal of non-native trees. Both Owairaka and Puketapapa had extensive building and excavation undertaken by Maori before the colonists arrived. Both were a Pa site with ditches and terraces around the summit to act both as a defence and for horticulture. 

Extensive planting of trees by settlers changed the appearance of the cones from that seen in early photographs. Owairaka in particular has many large trees of introduced species. Birds don't differentiate trees on the same basis as do humans, and this afternoon, I did see a tui feeding on what looked to me like a non-native tree. 

Descendants of the last iwi to occupy Owairaka now have the responsibility and authority to manage the volcanic cone going forward; and it is they who have the plan to fell many large trees to be replaced with native species. On my walk today I saw numerous small trees and shrubs which to my untutored eye look like native plants, being protected by the canopy of the big old trees above.

It is unfortunate that the argument between the Iwi Authority and those who want the trees left, has assumed undertones, leading to claims of racism. I hope that common sense prevails.

Today is the day of the year that New Zealand/Aotearoa marks the signing of Te Tiriti O Waitangi (the Treaty of Waitangi) which established a legal contract between Maori and the British Crown. Anyone who is interested in an historian's analysis of the Treaty could read this.