Can trees be saved? What is their value?

Yes, under the Takapuna Golf Course plan, many trees can be saved and transplanted.

Every mature urban tree has a real value that can be measured in several ways. We believe every effort should be made to save as many as possible. Scott Geddes of Auckland Tree Services, is making a study of this and sees huge opportunities in rescuing not just trees, but also the whole ecology that they in turn support.

How does tree retention benefit biodiversity and local wellbeing?

Mature trees are irreplaceable assets. They provide canopy cover that cools the environment, improves air quality, sequesters carbon, and supports urban biodiversity—from native birds to pollinators. Many of the trees at Takapuna Golf Course are decades old and form part of a larger green corridor.

For local residents, trees offer more than ecology. They create shade for walkers, buffer noise, enhance the visual landscape - especially from the motorway - and contribute to feelings of tranquility and wellbeing. The Takapuna Golf Course proposal ensures that these trees are saved - not just as individual trees, but as part of an integrated ecological system.

A quick Google search brings up the following relevant info:

The City of Melbourne has a comprehensive system for tree valuations, which incorporates removal costs, reinstatement costs, ecological services, and a complex "amenity value" that considers factors such as size, species, aesthetics, locality, and condition. The total value of the city's entire tree population is estimated at $600 million AUD, with the amenity value of significant trees alone valued at $240 million AUD. This valuation method is used for various purposes, including tree protection bonds, fees for tree removals, and informing urban forestry strategies.

How to calculate how much a tree is worth?

The formula is: Tree Value = Base Value x Cross-sectional Area x Species Class x Condition Class x Location. Class Base Value is the dollar amount assigned to 1 square 25mm of a tree's trunk cross-sectional area and is typically based on the cost of the largest available replacement plant of the same species.

The amenity value alone can range from $306 AUD ($193 USD) to $181,002 AUD ($113,000 USD) per tree.

When applying this methodology to the tree values within A F Thomas Park, the overall value will more than establish an economic reason to save as many trees as possible, while re-contouring of the land takes place.

But if the wetland proposal goes ahead and the course is reduced to nine holes, hundreds of trees will be removed and there will be less room for replanting.

We see this as a fundamental issue. The Auckland Council plan shows no intention of saving as many trees as possible but instead will denude the land in favour of fewer trees. It will take decades to regrow these trees and replace and lost bird habitats. The damage to other fauna will also be immense.

The Takapuna Golf Course proposal would be carried out in two stages and will result in much less long-term damage to flora and fauna. Our community and contracting-based transplanting plan would not be replicated by Council. It has to be done as part of an integrated plan.

This is a massive initiative that involves tree-loving people across Auckland, who will work to economically save as many trees as possible through innovative transplant techniques and rescue as many of the big trees on the course as possible. 

Smaller trees that have been planted more recently will be rescued, including the many thousands of native trees that the Takapuna Golf Course team has planted. This will involve the contracting community in Auckland supplying expertise, equipment and effort to make this happen. The grim prospect otherwise is that most of the trees on the course would be eliminated.

A tree identification plan is already underway to map, identify and then determine the rescue plan for each tree on the course

Bird rescue and species protection

The golf course in the park is home to many birds, skinks, wetas and insects, butterflies and moths. We want to protect them and retain the habitat that sustains them. 

It makes environmental and economic sense to save as much of these important and expensive taonga and treasures as possible.