‘Front-footing’ the battle with myrtle disease

Te Waha of Rerekohu, the largest pōhutukawa in Aotearoa, has been found to be infected with myrtle rust. The Matakaoa and Te Araroa community showed up at a community hui to hear from Graeme Atkins, Tikapa Beach resident and former Department of Conservation ranger, and Te Whakapae Ururoa team. Picture by Graeme Atkins

The largest pōhutukawa tree in Aotearoa, Te Waha o Rerekohu, has been infected with myrtle rust, but a hapū-led project is working to monitor and figure out ways to heal and protect the native plants.

Te Waha o Rerekohu  (the mouth of Rerekohu) in Te Araroa, is thought to be the largest pōhutukawa tree in the country and around 600 years old. Myrtle rust is a wind-borne fungal disease that can infect taonga species such as manuka, pohutukawa and rata.

The disease causes bright yellow-orange powdery pustules on young leaves, shoots, fruits and flowers of plants in the myrtle family.

Earlier this year, Graeme Atkins, Tīkapa Beach resident and former Department of Conservation ranger, found the infection on the tree after checking on it in recent years.

“It was no real surprise to me, but it is sad that our big tree has got myrtle rust on it,” he said.

“It holds a special place in that community and part of the world.

“A few years ago, I and a few of my mates were worried about what was happening to taiao (environment) with myrtle rust. I was tracking what it was up to and it wasn’t good. It was hitting ramarama, which is pretty much all gone compared to how common it was up here,” Mr Atkins said.

Since then two other species have joined ramarama in vanishing from the forests on the East Cape.

Rata (Metrosideros colensoi) and Rōhutu (Lophomyrtus obcordata) have vanished,  Mr Atkins said.

With this happening and no response on a national level, Graeme  and a hapū group got funding from Jobs for Nature in 2021 to set up a project, with help from former Conservation Minister Kiritapu Allan.

Te Whakapae Ururoa, a community and hapū-led myrtle rust surveillance project in Tairāwhiti, has seven positions which are all filled by locals from Cape Runaway to the East Cape.

They track what myrtle rust is doing in the ngahere (forest) through short and long-term monitoring sites they have set up. The project is funded for three years.

“(I’m) super glad we have mana whenua in biosecurity space,”  Mr Atkins said.

Te Whakapae Ururoa have a Facebook page where people can keep up to date on what the group is doing.

Through the project, they have a relationship with Scion, the Crown research institute, and next month there are plans to trial sprays of various fungicides.

“I am reluctant to spray the big trees, but there are prodigy or uri (descendants) of Rerekohu that were planted to beautify the streets. We should trial it on them,” Mr Atkins said.

The downside of the spray is that it has to be reapplied each time it rains, which is a problem if monitoring thousands of plants.

“It’s a short-term option, but it could be something. I’m not jumping for joy yet.”

Mr Atkins says it is hard to motivate the public when dealing with something airborne that you can’t see until it has infected trees.

“What I have said at various community hui is that if you have special places on your whenua where there are native myrtles, let our crew in there and we will set up some form of long-term monitoring and surveying.”

The public can get in touch with Te Whakapae Ururoa if they want their myrtle trees checked.

“It’s a service we have to offer our community.”

Mr Atkins says it is frustrating watching native species vanish.

“Nothing was really happening. Te Araroa was the first place where adult tree death was recorded. It was bloody depressing.  So I am grateful we’ve got the funding and ability to build our capacity to respond to future incursions. It’s great to have the ability to respond rather than being the ambulance at the bottom of the cliff.”

Five kaimahi work on the project, along with manager Mere Tamanui and a nursery technician Ripeka Irwin, who has a small nursery in Awatere at Te Araroa.

“We have a nursery because in our part of the world we have 14 native species of myrtle, so it’s a hotspot. We wanted to get cuttings of the myrtles and grow them and put them into the field to see what happens. Cuttings are faster than seeds. If they grew the plant from seeds it would take two years.

“Some will succumb to the myrtle rust, but some won’t so we will learn what to focus on.

“It’s all about keeping the community engaged and having a front foot on this ngāngara.”