A man who sat in a kauri tree for nearly two weeks doesn't believe he should be prosecuted for it.

Johno Smith appeared in the Waitakere District Court for the first time on Wednesday after coming down from the tree in the West Auckland suburb of Titirangi on December 23.

He was charged with trespass after sitting in the tree for 13 days to prevent the owners, John Lenihan and Jane Greensmith, from cutting it down to make way for development.

LAWRENCE SMITH/FAIRFAX NZ Johno Smith spent 13 days up a kauri tree protesting plans by a developer cut it down.

Smith entered no plea when he appeared in front of a registrar on Wednesday morning, and will reappear on January 20.

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Outside court he said he still believed he'd done the right thing.

Peter Meecham Protester and arborist Johno Smith surveys the damage done to the Kauri Tree on a property at Paturoa Road in Titirangi, West Auckland, after it was ringbarked.

"I believe I shouldn't be here," he said. "We should have laws protecting our trees (but) we have a strong community who won't allow stuff like this to happen.

"It's not just about this tree it's about kauri trees up and down the country."

Save Our Kauri estimated the tree to be about 500 years old and has been protesting Lenihan and Greensmith's intention to chop it down since May, when another protester, Michael Tavares, sat in it for 81 hours.

He too was charged with trespass and was convicted but avoided a penalty.

Smith was forced to come down from the tree ahead of Christmas, after a group of people began ringbarking the kauri with chainsaws.

Smith said the ringbarking was the worst thing you could do to a kauri, which could die because of it.

On Tuesday police said nobody would be charged with the ringbarking because the owners had given permission for it to happen.

Smith said he wasn't surprised the owners had sanctioned the action, but only became aware of that fact recently.

Save Our Kauri are still engaged in a legal battle with Lenihan and Greensmith, and all will be in the High Court at Auckland in February for a judicial review of Auckland Council's decision to allow the tree to be felled.

It's not the first time Smith has appeared in court for his environmental beliefs.

Last year he and a group of Greenpeace protesters were ordered to pay reparations after scaling Parliament buildings to protest over climate change inaction.