The protest at Canal Road has continued now for over 60 days. The remaining native trees (including the rare black maire and kawaka) are planned to be removed by the landowners so that the site can be sold.

The protesters have called for a gathering of those who support retaining the trees tomorrow (Weds 9 Sept) morning from 7am. The Tree Council encourages you to attend if you can, but we would like to discourage trespass onto the property itself. There are already a number of protesters occupying the trees. Please gather on the pavement, wear a mask and observe physical distancing to protect each other.

We understand that media from The Project will be there around 9.30am to interview some of the protestors. We provided background on the situation for them today.

The situation at Canal Road is being repeated across all of New Zealand's cities every single day as unprotected mature trees are removed on private land. The only thing that will change this carnage is the reintroduction of general tree protection rules into the Resource Management Act. Please email Minister David Parker david.parker@parliament.govt.nz and the Prime Minister jacinda.ardern@parliament.govt.nz to make your views on this issue known to them before the election. We urge you to lobby the candidates standing in your electorate on this issue.

Waitakere Forest & Bird Lecture Series:

Thursday 15th October 7:30pm - Professor Roger Davies

The Scientific Dilemmas of Climate Change: where are we now and what is a NET?

Roger Davies is Professor of Climate Physics at the University of Auckland.

This talk will start with an objective overview of climate change and where it appears to be heading. The goal will be to demystify the science behind climate change by answering the following questions:

• What do we know for sure? Agreed to by most or all climate scientists.
• What is plausible but not proven? … but just as hard to disprove.
• What is best-guess speculation? This is where the scientific discussion gets most heated.

He’ll also talk a little about unresolved climate science dilemmas that he finds interesting:

Clouds (his specialty). All clouds reflect solar radiation (cooling) but high clouds are a powerful greenhouse component (warming). Which effect will win?

Past climates. Sea level was 4 to 7 m higher in the recent past (when carbon dioxide was far less). Should we ignore this?

Chaos. What about natural variability and how is this affected by chaos? Should we ignore this too?

The second part of the talk will look to the future and introduce the latest buzz word: NET.

This is potentially where forests (but perhaps not birds) may be important.

Venue: Kelston Community Centre, cnr Awaroa/Great North Rd. Non members welcome, join us for supper afterwards. Koha appreciated to cover hall hire.

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