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Authorities have extended the area being targeted in the latest phase of aerial spraying which got under way today in a bid to eradicate the painted apple moth.
The spray zone now covers 8500 hectares of Auckland, with more than 40,000 properties, after a caterpillar-infested area was found last month in
the Meola Basin, in the city's inner west.
That discovery extended the spray zone by 500 hectares to include all of Pt Chevalier and Westmere, bordering Grey Lynn and Ponsonby.
Before September, the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry had been spraying in an area of just 700 hectares, but that project failed to wipe out the pest, discovered in 2000.
So the Government decided to spend a further $90 million on the task, in a three-year eradication programme, which could eventually cover 12,000 hectares.
A Fokker Friendship, a light plane, and a helicopter were involved in today's drop, using a spray called Foray 48B which has as its active ingredient the naturally-occurring soil bacterium Btk.
Breaks were being taken in the programme between 8am and 9am, 12.15pm and 1pm, and 3pm and 4pm, to avoid children on their way to and from school, and having lunch.
Painted apple moth general manager operations Robert Isbister said the number of male moths being trapped now was dramatically lower than at the same time a year ago.
A formal review of operations was planned for early in the New Year.
- NZPA
Herald feature: Environment
