Tree fact versus fiction information sheet template

Here is the ‘tree fact versus fiction’ information sheet that the Honour The Maunga team uses to guide discussions with passers-by at the maunga. As you will see, the wording is pertinent to the situation at Ōwairaka / Mt Albert, so please customise it to reflect what is happening at the maunga your group is protecting.

IMPORTANT NOTE: Please do NOT call your group Honour The Maunga. It is, however, okay to use the word ‘Honour’ in your group’s name, should you wish to do so. For example: Honour Mt Richmond / Ōtāhuhu.

Ōwairaka’s trees - fiction versus fact

FICTION: Most of the exotic trees are pest species

Fact: The Auckland Regional Pest Management Strategy defines only 7 of Ōwairaka’s 345 trees as being pest species.

FICTION:  The (130) flowering cherry trees on Ōwairaka are pest species

Fact:  We got an independent botanist and an independent arbourist to check the trees. Both advised that they are the common flowering cherry Prunus serralata, which is not a pest species.

FICTION:  Eucalyptus trees and other exotic trees poison the soil so nothing can grow under them

Fact:  Young native trees can be seen happily growing underneath larger eucalyptus trees and other exotic trees in the bush at the back of the archery field. 

Most of Ōwairaka’s eucalyptus trees are in very exposed areas, where little else can survive. It is therefore the harsh environment, rather than the trees, which is causing the problem.  Note that the eucalyptus trees form wind-breaks around the maunga, so removing them will result in much harsher growing conditions for the native plantings.

FICTION:  Exotic trees take up water and nutrients that could be better used by native trees.

Fact:   All trees work together to form communities and do not discriminate between exotic and native like we do. Mature trees nurture the young trees. See for yourself the countless native seedlings growing in the protective shelter of the exotic trees at the back of the archery and soccer fields. 

FICTION:  Many of the exotic trees are health and safety hazards

Fact:  Health and safety is constantly used to justify the destruction of Auckland's urban forest. We can find no evidence of a TMA expert H&S assessment of the health and safety risks of Owairaka's trees.

SPIN:  The 345 exotic trees will be replaced with 13,000 native plants

Fact:  The vast majority of these plants are low-growing species such as grasses and sedges. Very few trees will be planted, which will take many decades to reach a level of maturity where they can even come close to replacing the benefits of the felled trees.

Visit this page on our website for lots more fact versus fiction examples