Arsenal grows to combat Tangihua pests

Tangihua Lions Lodge Trust chairman Gerald Mannion and Northland Regional Council member Penny Smart with a map of the proposed Tangihua Community Pest Control Area. Photo/NRC

The war on plant and animal pests through more than 1400ha of bush, scrub and farmland between Whangarei and Dargaville is being ramped up.

The Tangihua area has joined the ranks of Northland's official Community Pest Control Areas (CPCA).

The project aims to restore biodiversity on private land surrounding the publicly owned Tangihua Forest, and support community-led conservation efforts there.

The CPCA will also work alongside the separate community-led Tangihua Forest Restoration Project.

The Northland Regional Council (NRC) will meet roughly half of the $120,000-plus costs over the next five years, with the remainder coming from landowners and other funders.

Regional councillor Penny Smart, whose Kaipara constituency includes part of the sprawling Tangihua CPCA, said the main aim was to dramatically cut animal and plant pests, then keep their numbers low to enable native flora and fauna to recover.

"Possums, wild pigs and cats, rats and mice and mustelids, as well as wild ginger and kauri dieback disease, will all be targeted using a variety of controls," she said.

The Tangihua Forest range includes a large area of public conservation land administered by the Department of Conservation (DoC), with private land around its periphery.

"The range is also home to the Tangihua Lions Lodge outdoor education centre and [the] council is thrilled to be working with, and have the support of, both DoC and the Lions Club as part of this CPCA," Ms Smart said.

Tangihua was the largest forest block in central Northland, she said.

"It provides habitat for at least three threatened and 22 regionally significant plant species and a range of threatened land- and water-based species, including birds, snails and freshwater fish."