Arborists and tree jobs in the Bay of Plenty

Tauranga, the Mount, Pāpāmoa and Rotorua

There are pages for Tauranga, Mount Maunganui, Pāpāmoa and Rotorua. Jobs from Te Puke, Katikati or Whakatāne go through the same form.

How Tauranga protects trees

Tauranga City Council protects some trees under the Tauranga City Plan, where they may be called listed, notable or scheduled trees. A protected tree needs a resource consent to remove it, prune it or build near it.

A tree can also be protected by a condition on an earlier resource consent, or by a covenant or consent notice on the title. That is why the council points people to its planning team or their LIM report. For tree questions, ring the council and ask for the Urban Forest team. Our Tauranga tree rules page has more.

In Rotorua and the rest of the region, the district council's own plan applies, so ask that council.

Council trees need sign-off

Any change to a Tauranga public tree, from pruning to root disturbance, needs a signed Asset Owner Approval from the Urban Forest team, and applying doesn't guarantee a yes.

Kauri and the hygiene zone

Kauri grow naturally as far east as near Te Puke, and the Bay of Plenty's councils are in the national kauri dieback plan. In Tauranga, earthworks or land disturbance within a Kauri Hygiene Zone need an Earthworks Risk Management Plan approved by the council before work starts. That rule has applied since 2 August 2023, and the zone reaches three times the maximum radius of the canopy dripline.

Pōhutukawa and myrtle rust

The bay's coast sits inside pōhutukawa's natural range, north of Poverty Bay. Myrtle rust shows as bright yellow-orange powdery eruptions on leaves, often underneath. DOC says not to touch it or collect samples: photograph it and report it on iNaturalist instead. Our pōhutukawa guide has more.