The two-day mission was part of a longer-term battle to prevent wilding trees spreading across the popular peak which has views over Lake Wanaka.
The group is made up of volunteers with have a wide range of knowledge and experience and who are dedicated to seeing the Upper Clutha’s natural landscapes and indigenous biodiversity protected against the invasion of exotic wilding trees.
The first Roy’s Peak wilding pine removal was the group’s first major operation, thanks to $10,000 funding from Love Wanaka.
It negotiated with three landowners on Roy’s Peak to remove about 50 wilding pines.
Each landowner contributed 20% of the cost of the work on their land.
The size of six of the trees and their proximity to fences required specialist contractor Wanaka Tree Care to remove the trees safely.
Helicopters were used to fly in the arborists’ gear.
Seedlings from the mature pines had begun spreading across the face of Roy’s Peak.
If the trees were not removed, they would have continued to spread and develop into a wilding forest.
The tree felling was not a one-off job, the group said.
Future volunteer work would be needed to cut down the seedlings that would continue to germinate over the next five years.
The group’s next operation would be in spring, removing wilding pines that have cones, or a near to having cones, on the Stevensons Arm peninsula.
The group was able to do the work through funding from the Otago Regional Council, Queenstown Lakes District Council and a 20% contribution from the landowner.
The group has monthly working bees and can be contacted via its website upperclutha wildingtreegroup.co.nz.
— Copy supplied by Arne and Jenny Cleland, founding members of the Upper Clutha Wilding Tree Group, which formed in 2022.
