Over the weekend the Minister of Conservation and Minister for Primary Industries announced the results of aerial and ground surveillance carried out on the Coromandel Peninsula. You can read the Ministerial media releases at http://beehive.govt.nz/
The Programme shared the results with people who attended the inaugural meetings of the Coromandel Kauri Dieback Forum held in Whangamata, Thames and Whitianga over the weekend. You can read more about this new group of people who are committed to preventing the spread of kauri dieback below.
The results
The disease has been confirmed at only two sites on the Coromandel. The first site was where kauri dieback disease was first detected in March 2014 at the Whangapoua Forest/Hukarahi Conservation Area, which is administered by the Department of Conservation (DOC). The second site is on private land to the north of the Whangapoua settlement. The programme has a policy of not publically releasing the details of infected private property without the consent of the landowners.
The scale of the surveillance carried out was one of the largest the Kauri Dieback Programme has coordinated to date. On behalf of the Programme I would like to thank the mana whenua, the Kauri 2000 Trust, land owners and community groups for their support and assistance. They have been keen to learn about how they could help prevent the spread of the disease, as well as provide valuable information about their land, and access to it when required.
What we learnt from the surveillance
The infected area in the Whangapoua Forest/Hukarahi Conservation Area was closed to the public to reduce the risk of spreading the disease on 25 March. On the same day we began intensive aerial and ground surveillance, including soil sampling, across the whole Peninsula and the northern Kaimai Ranges.
Mana whenua also joined agency staff as they carried out the soil sampling process, so they could increase their skills in carrying out soil sampling and related monitoring.
The results of this intensive surveillance indicate that kauri dieback is not widespread and appears to be limited to a relatively small area in the northern half of the Peninsula.
Testing at the Whangapoua Forest/Hukarahi Conservation Area indicates that the disease is not widespread at this site. However, the new site has a more widespread and advanced infection.
Tracing work, interviews with land managers and the pattern of disease symptoms indicate that PTA has been at these sites for decades. The common link between the two infected forests is adjacency to the former New Zealand Forest Service (NZFS) managed Whangapoua State Forest (constituted primarily of radiata pine), which was largely established in the 1970s and 1980s, but also included trial plantings in the late 1940s.
Historic NZFS activity has also been implicated in the spread of kauri dieback to other infected sites in Northland and Auckland.
How the affected sites will be managed
Following on from the surveillance, the Programme carried out a full risk assessment of each of the two sites, and from this developed a long term plan for how best to manage each area.
As there are no walking tracks and limited access to the Whangapoua Forest/Hukarahi Conservation Area, this increases the chances of containing the disease. This area will remain closed while we continue talking with the local community, mana whenua and adjoining landowners on how the site will be managed over the long term.
We now have a draft management plan for the newly identified site and priority actions are to keep cattle out of the forest, control pigs and restrict peoples' access. The primary land manager has already agreed to restrict access and signage will be installed in the near future.
Management across the Peninsula
Kauri dieback signage has been installed on all tracks administered by DOC, plus new hygiene stations have been placed on tracks that are used heavily. Ad hoc surveillance will continue to be carried out in response to observations of suspicious symptoms. This is the same process that led to the identification of the infection in the Whangapoua Forest/Hukarahi Conservation Area.
The Programme is continuing to work with tangata whenua across the Coromandel to develop initiatives including marae-based hui, community engagement and education activities.
The Programme was excited when the Kauri 2000 Trust told us of their plans to set up a new Coromandel Kauri Dieback Community Forum to develop a strategy for kauri protection across the Coromandel. We are keen to work alongside this group to continue increasing our relationship with the local communities on preventing kauri dieback.
The Trust's efforts to prevent the spread of kauri dieback will also be supported by a grant of $57,000 recently announced by Associate Conservation Minister Nicky Wagner. The grant comes from the Department of Conservation's Community Conservation Partnership Fund.
As you know, without any treatment or control tools, the only way we can protect our kauri forests is prevent kauri dieback spreading - which requires everyone to get involved. The way the people of Coromandel have gathered together to help to this is a great example, which we'd like to see mirrored right across all regions with naturally-occurring kauri.