Dying sea rush and native fern. Photo / Supplied
A Mount Maunganui resident is urging Tauranga City Council to manually remove pest plants from sand dunes, rather than using sprays, in order to protect native species growing in the area.
But the council, which is in charge of weed control on coastal reserves, says plant pests are extremely invasive within the coastal dunes, which puts native plants at risk.
A council spokesman says the minimum amount of agrichemical is used and during summer droughts, many plants in the dunes suffer and die, especially when trampled.
However, Mount Maunganui resident Ailsa Gribben is concerned sprays used on invasive plants on the dunes might also be killing native plants.
Agapanthus, which are not native, had recently been sprayed which led to surrounding native plants dying, she said.
Gribben said while she was "all for getting weeds out of the dunes," the pest plants should be removed manually.
She said many of the pests died down in the summer, and many had a bulb which meant it would need to be dug out, and agapanthus flower heads could be cut off to stop them spreading.
She suggested those required to do community service could take this on.
Using manual labour as opposed to spraying weeds would address her other concern; the close proximity of the spraying to the sea, homes, walkers and beach-goers.
Council's spaces and places manager Mark Smith said illegal dumping of garden waste and spreading seeds fuelled pest plants.
Smith said the council looked after the ecological areas, which includes animal and plant pest control.
"Many of these plant pests are extremely invasive within the coastal dunes, which puts our native endemic plants at risk.
"Many of these plant pests have originated from the continued illegal dumping of garden waste or from private properties through the spread of seed."
Agapanthus, he said, was an invasive plant pest in the coastal reserve and was hard to kill.
Smith said experienced and competent contractors used the minimum amount of the correct agrichemical, and their methods were in line with the Tauranga City Council Agrichemical Policy and Bay of Plenty Regional Council air plan.
During summer droughts many plants in the dunes suffer and die, especially when trampled, he said.
"Despite any plant losses, we are committed to improving the ecological values in the coastal reserve.
He said a "huge" amount of work has been done to replant the dunes, which was done through Coast Care.
Barbara Procter and her late husband, Joe, used to walk down to the dunes from their Oceanbeach Rd home with buckets of water to help the native plants survive in the summer.
She moved four years ago but said the use of pesticides had been an ongoing battle.
The couple began volunteering in dune planting days with Coast Care, and about 10 years ago, they approached Coast Care to take on some of the plantings in their own time.
Dunes act as the backbone of Bay of Plenty beaches and a buffer between the land and the sea.
Coast Care aims to restore and protect the sand dunes along the region's beaches.
According to the regional council website, native dune plants play a vital role in maintaining the dunes, binding light blowing sand onto the beach, and making stable sand dunes.
Without these plants, the sand blows away and dunes disappear - leaving the land vulnerable to weather and wave surges.