Tāmaki Makaurau: Four activists arrested while protecting mature trees, including the iconic stand at Canal Road in Avondale, are before the Auckland District Court today at 3:45pm.

They are Hanna Luypers, Trav Mischewski, Zane Wedding and Steve Abel. All are charged with Trespass.

Luypers, Mischewski and Wedding were arrested on 9 March 2021 for protesting the cutting down of the Canal Road native tree stand in Avondale following a 245-day occupation to save the stand from destruction by developer Paul Macey.

Over a dozen activists were arrested that day trying to stop the chainsaws, crane and digger, however others have had charges dropped.

While Abel had earlier been arrested at Canal Road on 21 July 2020, with William Lee and three other activists, for occupying a puriri tree on the site, he is before the court tomorrow for sitting in a Karo tree at the Western Springs Forest to protest the forest’s felling by Auckland Council in April 2021.

The four are part of Mana Rākau - a group dedicated to protecting mature trees - which is calling on the Ardern government to bring back general tree protection. The group has a petition that has now been signed by over 9,000 people.

The group says that “for liveable communities, liveable cities, and a liveable planet, we must keep mature trees standing.”

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