Government 'too slow to act' on kauri disease

A Northland conservationist is frustrated a "constipated bureaucratic system" failed to act sooner against a disease that is killing kauri trees.
Stephen King of the Waipoua Forest Trust said it was all very well for a Government-led management group to ask people to watch where they're walking in forest parks and reserves.
But, Mr King said, decisive action on the ground some years ago could have minimised the spread of kauri die-back disease, now identified as phytophthora taxon agathis (PTA).
Trees infected with the disease, which attacks through the roots, show yellowing leaves, dead branches and resin-bleeding lesions on their lower trunks, and eventually die.
Mr King said he advised Department of Conservation three years ago that remedial action was needed in the Waipoua Forest. As far back as 1978 he advised then Lands and Survey Department not to use gravel on tracks in the Waipoua Forest.
Mr King said it was well known that gravel carried pathogens and created a harbouring environment for disease.
The Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry is the lead agent of several parties working on a five-year kauri die-back Management Programme, for which the Government approved funding last year.
Work which has been under way for a year includes research on PTA and its spread, developing control methods, surveillance and identification, public education, foot-cleaning stations, upgrading and rerouting tracks, and developing practice standards.
John Sanson, the programme spokesman, said the disease was spread by soil movement and there were simple things people could do to help prevent it.
"Always stick to defined tracks in parks and reserves and keep off kauri tree roots.
"Before entering or leaving areas of kauri forest, clean footwear, tyres and any equipment that comes into contact with soil," Mr Sanson said.
But Mr King said the disease, which had killed trees in Trounson Kauri Park and Waipoua Forest Kauri Sanctuary, had also infected trees in the largely inaccessible Raetea Forest, north of Mangamuka.
"The top priority is pig control as they are the main vectors of this disease. Equally important is the need to fix up walking tracks through our forests," Mr King said.
"Clean up the environment around the roots and then the trees' natural defences can work properly."
The best prevention for heavy foot traffic areas were boardwalks, Mr King said.
The avocado phytophthora strain had been identified at the iconic Tane Mahuta kauri 10 or 12 years ago. Since then five other big trees on the gravel-lined Four Sisters to Tane Mahuta track had died, he said.
"It hasn't affected Tane Mahuta because we've looked after the roots completely. Every tree I've done remedial work with has recovered and every tree with kauri die-back that has been left alone has died."
But Hilary Aikman, Northland Conservancy support manager, said that while PTA has been found in Waipoua, it has not been found in any of the large named kauri trees, including Tane Mahuta.
Mr King said that considering the importance of the kauri to the area's identity and tourism there should be a kauri health centre at the Waipoua.