Control progress 2016-2022
Date: 19th October 2022
Effective wilding control is all about keeping the pressure on -catching trees when they are small and before they get a chance to cone and send their winged progeny out to create more problems in our native forests and tussock lands, iconic landscapes and on our farmland.
Collectively the wilding community have made huge strides into effective control in many areas across Aotearoa. Community partnership projects have flourished and as well as undertaking work on the ground are invaluable advocates for proactive wilding control.
Image courtesy of Tanira Raureti – Ruawahia 2B Trust from a presentation to the 2022 Wilding Pine Conference on work the Trust is undertaking on Mt Tarawera in the central North Island supported by the National Wilding Conifer Control Programme and Bay of Plenty Regional Council
They include projects undertaken by groups as well as individual landowner initiatives and often involve training local people both as volunteers and contractors and have resulted in a number of new businesses specialising in wilding management that can then do other plant and animal pest contracts – a great form of sustainable local employment.
The map below shows progress since the National Wilding Conifer Control Programme started in 2016. Although we should be encouraged with the extent of areas where work has been undertaken, we still have a long way to go.
The long way to go is evidenced by only 1 green area (in the South Island) where enough work has been done to transition to local management. Many other areas although started still have significant seed sources remaining. There are many other areas where work has yet to start. It is imperative we sustain the gains.
The key messages here are:
- We know how to do this work effectively. We have learned and refined this through adaptive management and learning by doing supported by solid research and innovation. We have the work force and the support in communities across Aotearoa and across all land tenures and landscape types.
2. Sustained ongoing funding is critical to the long-term success of this programme. It must be at levels where this resourcing is maintained at a level which not only protects the significant investments that have been made to date but also allows the programme to be taken to a satisfactory conclusion over the next decade.
3. We need to keep moving forward – going backwards means more Branch Leatham’s – who wants that? Get in behind our Sustaining the Gains advocacy campaign to address the 2023 National Programme funding reduction so we can keep the momentum going to not only continue the work in existing management units but start funding new ones such as the Branch Leatham.
SUSTAINING THE GAINS – Wilding Pine Network NZ
Tom Scott’s 2001 cartoon illustrates the potential of wilding trees left unmanaged. If you seek to see many of our iconic landscapes, it will be like a game of hide and seek to find them…
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