completely OT: Trees

[morepork]

Does anyone know about this situation?

http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/national/ ... ri-dieback


Are there any scientists working on this or have funding cuts to DOC knocked the arse out of applied science? I know of a few conservation groups in the South Island that keep biodiversity/safety barely above water only through volunteer efforts and donations (mainly pest management).

The Kauri situation looks feckin dire. Closing off the Wataks.....big call.

[Spy]

Big news out my way, as you might imagine, although I'm not that well-informed really. It's a tricky disease to manage - no "cure" has been found. Visitor numbers are way up. When I were lad you could feasibly skinny dip at Kitekite Falls with minimal risk of being interrupted. Now it's rare to have it to yourself.

I have concerns with some of the semi-organised groups using the Waitaks, but not paying any fee (other than rates, I suppose). I doubt and hope it won't come to shutting off the Waitak tracks, but there probably needs to be some sort of charge introduced somehow to improve management of the park.

[rowan]

The most interesting thing I read at that link was this headline under top news stories to the right of the page:

Auckland woman Anna Browne, who stabbed her friend to death at a pamper party, has been found guilty of murder.

WTF

[morepork]

Thanks Spy. I've been trying to find out what science is doing about it. Unfortunately, Crown Research Institutes aren't interested in anything that can't be sold as an IPA via the dairy industry. There are some effective fungicides apparently but there are also big gaps in knowledge of the lifecycle of the pathogen....particularly the reproductive phases. This should be the thesis topic of masters and PhD students around the country. Apparently this bug has been known since 1974 when it was found in trees on Great Barrier. I don't like the look of this, and the authorities seem to be sitting on their hands.

[Lizard]

I was out there yesterday. The tracks I was on were supposed to be "moderate" but were seriously unmaintained, even allowing for the season and amount of rain we've had. I had my 4 1/2 year old boy with me and had I known the state of things probably would have gone elsewhere. (We had three adults and he's a bloody champion so there was no real problem - we just took 3.5 hours to do what should have taken 2.5).

I know that since the Hilary Trail opened, other tracks are less looked after but it seems there just isn't the investment being made that's required generally, let alone to deal with the Kauri problem. The "cleaning" stations are a joke. When you've got mud an inch thick on your boots, a worn out scrubbing brush and a bottle of disinfectant spray doesn't achieve much. You do your best but it's hardly biohazard containment level.

It would be a real shame if the only answer was to close the park. I'm not sure that charging fees would be the right thing, either. Access to our natural heritage should be available to all.

[Spy]

Which tracks Liz?

The Piha/Karekare tracks are muddy in winter . There are a couple that are OK year-round, but if you go off these, it's going to be muddy. And it has been raining a lot. I tend to head for the beach or beach tracks this time of year.

I grew up out here. My grandfather was the first Park Ranger for Piha, from the 1950s-70s. I've walked these tracks a lot. I wouldn't say that the track maintenance situation is any worse today than it has been historically. The build quality of the tracks (the main ones, anyway) is better. The maintenance (ie chopping back overgrowth etc) could be improved at times.

You could make a decent argument that the maintenance and general quality of the tracks should be a whole lot better still, especially given the increase in visitor numbers, but the money to do this obviously has to come from somewhere. Maybe an increased levy from general rates. I certainly don't support a toll on admission. I do have concerns with mini-buses of tourists/church groups/whatever rolling up and disgorging groups of 20 or 30 people on the tracks without paying any contribution to upkeep.

Agree on the cleaning stations. Presumably they are of some benefit, but I think there's an element of appearing to do something about dieback with them.

[morepork]

Containment is the issue here. Who cares if you have to bush crash for a bit. Anawhata and Whites beach and around there used to be a staple for me after work a few times a week in the summer. In the South Island there used to be a pretty well set up assault on didymo when going between rivers/lakes, with hypoxychlorite mix and disposal receptacles to help everyone clean their boats/fishing gear, but this has dropped way off in the last five years. I'm thinking the Waitaks could do with the same on at least the more popular tracks/points of entry and exit. You need a mini sheep dip with a dilute bleach solution at each end to plow through. Proper contained chemical traps.Trickier things have been done. Effin hell, the amount spent on marketing could easily be diverted to containment for a spell, with scientists monitoring spread and density all the while. It's not worth not doing in the long run. Bit worried about this one.

[Spy]

What you describe is kind of what exists at the moment, and has been in place for the past few years.


Or were you thinking bigger scale?

[morepork]

That drenching station could work.Do they get overwhelmed with punters?

[Lizard]

The stations on the route I took (a loop off Anawhata Rd: Centrnnial track/Forbes/Quarry) were nothing like that. Just a couple of squirty bottles and a knackered scrubbing brush.

[morepork]

What sort of traffic volume would you estimate went through there each day Liz?