Iwi says T¯ane Mahuta in danger
Kauri dieback has been found in a young tree less than 60 metres from Ta¯ne Mahuta, a local iwi has confirmed.
The discovery means the
100 per cent-fatal fungal disease could already be well within the spread of the giant tree’s root system in the Waipoua Forest, about
45 kilometres north of Dargaville, Te Roroa science adviser Taoho Patuawa told
The iwi and its science partners confirmed the infection of the ‘‘ricket’’, or non-mature tree, which sits in clear line of sight to Ta¯ne Mahuta, several weeks ago.
The Department of Conservation (DoC) was informed but had ‘‘sat on the information’’, Patuawa said.
Te Roroa wants urgent soil and root testing in the vicinity of Ta¯ ne Mahuta (Lord of the Forest) – New Zealand’s oldest and most revered ‘‘Rangatira’’ tree – to establish whether the giant is infected or in immediate danger of becoming infected.
The iwi is heavily critical of DoC for refusing to carry out any ‘‘on the ground testing’’ of soil or root samples around Ta¯ne Mahuta, despite knowing of the danger for years.
Only aerial surveys have been done, the latest of which, conducted by the Ministry for Primary Industries last summer, found 200 new spots where infection is suspected.
Patuawa said a contingency plan for Ta¯ne Mahuta and its immediate surrounds, ordered by former Conservation Minister Maggie Barry in 2013 and written by
DoC staff, was ignored. While widespread surveys, including ground testing, were carried out in Auckland’s infected Waitakere Ranges, DoC had refused to do so in the Waipoua forest, he said.
Te Roroa wants to go ahead with its own testing to see whether kauri dieback, also known as phytopthera agathadisida, is in Ta¯ ne Mahuta’s root system. It asked DoC for resourcing for the iwi’s own experts to do the work, but ‘‘they’ve offered the bare minimum of what we’ve been asking for’’, Patuawa said.
DoC’s northern North Island director of operations, Sue ReedThomas, said the department would be open to funding the iwi’s experts ‘‘but we’ve got to see the plan first’’.
She defended DoC’s handling of kauri dieback in Waipoua.
‘‘We have done as much as we can in the absence of the science to prove how to cure or how to stop the spread of the disease.’’
Reed-Thomas said she had received ‘‘verbal advice’’ from Te Roroa that the young tree near Ta¯ ne Mahuta was infected.
The department had not asked to see a written report or the specific soil samples that confirmed the infection.
The contingency plan ordered by Barry had not resulted in soil or root sampling, she said.
Taking soil samples risked spreading the disease.
Winter was an unsuitable time to test for kauri dieback, and an agreement between DoC and iwi should be finalised by the time it was safe to do so.
Reed-Thomas denied there had been a breakdown in the relationship between Te Roroa and DoC at regional level.
‘‘That would be a surprise to me,’’ she said.
Scientists told the danger to Ta¯ ne Mahuta was very grave.
There was a growing consensus among the scientific community that the Waipoua forest, including the popular kauri walking tracks and access to Ta¯ne Mahuta, should be closed immediately.
Former head of Biosecurity for Auckland Council, Jack Craw, said DoC and the Ministry for Primary Industries had fallen well behind with their response to the situation at Waipoua and the nearby Trounson Kauri Park, which was now a ‘‘graveyard’’.