{"id":547839,"date":"2026-07-28T12:39:13","date_gmt":"2026-07-28T12:39:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/547839\/"},"modified":"2026-07-28T12:39:13","modified_gmt":"2026-07-28T12:39:13","slug":"pohutukawa-trees-on-coromandel-beach-drilled-and-poisoned","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/547839\/","title":{"rendered":"P\u014dhutukawa trees on Coromandel beach ‘drilled and poisoned’"},"content":{"rendered":"

An investigation is underway after two p\u014dhutukawa trees alongside a popular beach in the Coromandel were “illegally poisoned”, the Department of Conservation says.<\/p>\n

The coastal trees, located on the Hahei Beach Marginal Strip, were found with “clear evidence of drill and fill holes around the base”, DOC said today. <\/p>\n

DOC said Aotearoa’s unofficial Christmas tree was more than a hallmark of our summer landscape, adding that they also served as “important coastal ecosystems in their own right”. <\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

A hole drilled and filled around the base of a p\u014dhutukawa tree. (Source: DOC) (Source: Supplied)<\/p>\n

“Their flowers provide nectar for t\u016b\u012b, bellbirds and geckos, while their trunks, bark and canopy offer habitat for birds, insects and spiders. A diverse community of native insects depends on p\u014dhutukawa, and the leaf litter beneath them supports hardy native snails adapted to life along the coast. Shags and white-faced herons often nest or roost in p\u014dhutukawa.<\/p>\n

“Just as importantly, their strong, interlocking root systems help stabilise coastal soils, dunes and cliffs, protecting them from wind and wave erosion.<\/p>\n

“Please help us protect these special coastal trees.”<\/p>\n

\"Pōhutukawa<\/p>\n

P\u014dhutukawa flowers. (Source: DOC) (Source: Supplied)<\/p>\n

Damaging, poisoning or destroying native vegetation on public conservation land is a serious offence which can lead to fines of up to $300,000. <\/p>\n

Anyone with information was urged to contact DOC on 0800 DOC HOT (0800 362 468), quoting reference number CLE-12213. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"An investigation is underway after two p\u014dhutukawa trees alongside a popular beach in the Coromandel were “illegally poisoned”,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":547840,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[273,111,43,139,69],"class_list":["post-547839","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-zealand","tag-environment","tag-new-zealand","tag-news","tag-newzealand","tag-nz"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/547839","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=547839"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/547839\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/547840"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=547839"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=547839"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=547839"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}