Calls are mounting for Auckland Council to implement a ban on visitors going through a popular Auckland park before the end of this year, to protect the native kauri.
Te Kawerau ā Maki has committed to imposing a rāhui, or restriction in the area before Christmas to prevent the spread of kauri dieback.
The disease had spread throughout the park and latest council figures showed 19 per cent of the native trees were infected - up from 8 per cent five years ago.
The disease has spread throughout the park, and in worst-affected areas like Piha, kauri will likely be extinct in five years, Auckland Council's report says.
The iwi was backed by the Tree Council, Waitakere Ranges Protection Society and Forest & Bird in calls for a Controlled Area Notice, and had written to Auckland Council requesting it was implemented before the forest was inundated with summer visitors.