The politically-loaded issue of saving Auckland’s trees

Ecology is being increasingly idealised into a simplistic binary of native equals good/non-native equals bad, Newsroom argues. This is starkly portrayed in Tūpuna Maunga Authority’s plans to rid Tāmaki Makaurau/Auckland’s maunga (volcanic cones) of all exotic trees – some 2500 in all. But understanding the situation requires understanding who Tūpuna Maunga Authority is and why our tree-saving actions became so politically-loaded.