The Ministry defends the performance of the kauri dieback program

The Ministry of Primary Industries defends its leadership of the kauri dieback program

Ministry of Primary Industries defends its kauri dieback program after expert reviews.
Photo: RNZ / Alison Ballance

A scientist criticized the program by stating that in nine years no critical research has been commissioned.

Dr. Amanda Black, a bioprotective researcher at Lincoln Center University, said the program was a "trainwreck".

"We had weak governance around the program, we had people involved in managing the program not knowing how to do the research, not knowing what to look for, we had failures in key scientific areas which led to the disappearance of trees in this forest. "

However, conservation advisor Eric van Eyndhoven said the governance group, which includes the Conservation Department (DOC) and regional councils, has been advised by scientists. [19659006] "I think it's very easy to criticize from the outside, but there will always be competing priorities for this funding. "He said."

"We choose to fund other things that can not be funded, but at that time we have funded more than 70 projects in whole or in part, so we are putting a lot of effort into the funding available to us. "

The research budget for the first years of the program was only a few years old Mr. Van Eyndhoven said:

Scientists say that iconic trees are threatened in the Waipoua forest, in the north of the country, because no thorough soil sampling work was done. "Dr. Black said that Waipoua urgently needed a crisis management plan. if large trees were to be saved.

However, Mr. van Eyndhoven declared responsibility for the sampling of soil and other work on protected lands and private property. Auckland has conducted aerial surveys of its kauri forests from 2010, followed by a soil sampling, and now has clear data on the location and spread of the disease.

d iwi Te Roroa asked DOC not to do similar work in the Waipoua Forest, where kauri dieback is approaching rakau rangatira – revered trees like Tāne Mahuta and Te Matua Ngahere.