A decision by the Tūpuna Maunga o Tāmaki Makaurau Authority confirmed today that a tree will stand again on the summit of Maungakiekie (One Tree Hill).
It was also announced that planting will take place during Matariki season (Māori New Year) in Winter 2016, and that a small grove of three young tōtara and three young pohutukawa will be planted where the previous iconic tree stood.
The authority explains that a shelter-band of native shrubs will also be planted to ensure the optimum chance of survival, and the aim is that either a single pohutukawa or tōtara will stand after a decade.
Chair of the Tūpuna Maunga o Tāmaki Makaurau, Paul Majurey, says the return of native fauna to the tihi of Maungakiekie marks another significant milestone for this tūpuna maunga (ancestral mountain).
He says, "This unanimous decision could not have been made without the support of Ngā Mana Whenua o Tāmaki Makaurau, the 13 iwi/hapū who achieved the landmark Tāmaki Collective Treaty settlement that resulted in the return of ownership of the Tūpuna Maunga to Mana Whenua."
Speaking on the maunga this morning, Auckland Mayor Len Brown said, "Mangakiekie/One Tree Hill is an icon for Aucklanders no matter where they live, no matter what their background."
That, "The loss of the tree was a symbol of what divided us. The return of a tree is a symbol of what unites us. Aucklanders have been waiting for this moment for 15 years. Five years after the uniting of Auckland and a year after the establishment of the Maunga Authority, we will once again have an iconic symbol of what brings all together."
Maungakiekie is one of the 14 Tūpuna Maunga returned to Ngā Mana Whenua o Tāmaki Makaurau under the Ngā Mana Whenua o Tāmaki Makaurau Collective Redress Act 2014, marking an important milestone for these taonga tuku iho (treasures handed down the generations) and improved protection and enhancement of their spiritual, cultural, historical and geological values.