Station increases conifer control

holes in conifer trunks and inject them with herbicide, he said.

‘‘There’s probably going to be every technique thrown at it. It’s ramping up, just purely because of this additional investment,’’ he said.

The national wilding conifer control programme was given an additional $21m over two years as part of the Government’s Budget 2019, released in

May this year.

A spokesman from the Ministry for Primary Industries, which ran the programme, said about $1.26m was earmarked for Molesworth in the 2019-20 financial year.

He said $1.35m had been put towards removing conifers in Molesworth since 2016.

The council, the Department of Conservation (DOC) and Landcorp, who were programme partners, had contributed another $730,000 over the same period.

The spokesman said funding for the 2020-21 financial year would be determined next year. Underwood estimated funding would increase to $2m in future.

But needed.

‘‘It’s a big issue, not only in Molesworth but in other parts of Marlborough as well, like the Waihopai Valley... where they could impact water yield.’’

Conifers were also invading Molesworth Station from the Waihopai Valley, in the north, and Canterbury’s Hanmer Springs, in the south, Underwood said.

‘‘In upper Molesworth, they more was [conifers] are definitely a landscape changer,’’ he said. ‘‘The area is valued for its big, open landscape, but these conifers run the risk of modifying that area completely into a conifer landscape.’’

Molesworth was a ‘‘hot spot’’ for threatened flora, which would be affected if the farm’s dry slope ecosystems switched into a pine forrest, Underwood said.

Wilding conifers already covered several million hectares of the country, and continued to spread at 5 per cent, or 90,000 hectares, a year.

The council agreed earlier this year to amend its regional pest management plan, adopted late last year, to include a new pest conifer programme which would kickstart a ‘‘regional framework’’ and support the national programme.

The council announced a tender this month requesting the services of a programme manager, who would oversee Molesworth’s conifer control programme until July next year, and also for the 2020-21 financial year, subject to more funding.

Underwood said the council aimed to find a ‘‘dedicated and focused’’ project manager who could manage the ‘‘ramp up’’ of its national programme.

The tender process closes on January 17 at 4pm.