'Wider blitz needed for moth eradication'

By ANNE BESTON environment reporter

An aerial blitz against the painted apple moth will have to be expanded by hundreds of hectares if eradication is to succeed, says the scientist leading the campaign.

But figures show the moth population is being hit by the spraying.

Dr Frampton, head of the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry campaign against the pest moth, said yesterday that the present $11 million operation in West Auckland was not enough to achieve eradication.

She believed expanding the present zone from 600ha to a maximum of 3000ha is the option mostly likely to win Government approval when the Cabinet meets to decide the future of the programme in May.

"We are not going to achieve eradication without some further effort in areas [outside the target zone]," she said."We have acknowledged for some time now that there are areas outside the spray zone that need attention."

If the Cabinet agreed to expand the operation, it could take in areas outside West Auckland such as Onehunga and Mt Wellington if persistent infestations were found.

One of the most controversial areas not within the target zone is Auckland's most important wilderness area, the Waitakere Ranges.

Dr Frampton said she believed there was community support to target the moth within the ranges but said it would probably be limited to "a couple of areas" such as Piha Rd and the Lower Nihotupu Dam.

The chairman of the community group appointed by MAF to express the public's concerns over the spray operation, Kubi Witten-Hannah, said MAF had struggled to get this campaign right and it was troubling that the ministry wanted to go for an even bigger one.

"If they go for option two they are going to have to do a lot better and deal with people's health concerns," he said. "They are still catching moths within the current spray zone where they are concentrating their efforts so I would be concerned about extending it."

The three other options to go to the Cabinet are: to take no further action; to blanket-spray more than 40,000 hectares by fixed-wing aircraft; or agree the moth is here to stay and adopt measures to limit its spread.

Dr Frampton would not say how much the expanded spray zone option would cost and would not be drawn on how keen the Government might be to plough more money into the campaign.

Early results suggest the first three sprays of the biological insecticide Foray 48B, or Btk, over West Auckland appear to have had the desired effect.

The number of live moths caught in the more than 700 baited traps across the city have been consistently low for the past five weeks, with 271 in last week's trap catch.

nzherald.co.nz/environment