Auckland forest closure falling 'shockingly' short - The Tree Council

Monday, 5 November 2018

Fences to keep people out are sometimes easy to skirt around.

Auckland Council is failing to deliver on the enforcement needed to save kauri, an environmental group says.

A month-long audit was carried out by The Tree Council to assess how well the closure of the large Waitākere Ranges Regional Park to the west of the city was being enacted.

The forest has been largely closed as scientists say that kauri dieback disease is mostly spread by mud on people's boots, killing the trees.

The group's secretary Dr Mels Barton said the audit looked at the status of signage, fencing, cleaning stations and the use of the park - and the results were 'shocking'.

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'The people of Auckland have committed $100m of our money towards protecting kauri and this audit shows that Auckland Council is not taking its responsibilities to deliver that protection seriously,' Barton said.

'The majority of law abiding citizens are giving up their beloved Waitākere Ranges tramping experiences in order to protect our forest. We expect Auckland Council to do their bit to ensure that the closure is complete and effectively enforced.'

The Upper Nihotupu Track is worn down to exposed clay in places.

However, the council's regional parks manager Rachel Kelleher rejected the criticism, and said there had been a significant learning curve.

'These are unprecedented closures and this has been a real adaptive process,' she said.

Some closed tracks in the Waitākere Ranges have better signage than others.

'This has involved communication, physical barriers, compliance officers and monitoring.'

Kelleher said the council's initial focus had been on education however, she did not rule out taking a stronger stance against those who ignored the rules.

'As time has gone on there has been physical evidence that shows some people are ignoring the Controlled Area Notices,' she said.

Punishment could be an outcome of intentional breaches if evidence was readily available, Kelleher said.

'We are tailoring monitoring to tracks where there is evidence of people ignoring the rules,' she said.

During the month-long audit of the forest, The Tree Council volunteers found areas without clear signage as well as tracks that did not comply with the standards of the Controlled Area Notice.

Barton said the results were disappointing.

'In addition there was evidence that fences were poorly placed so that they were easy to bypass and that informal tracks had been made to avoid them, so people are breaching the closure,' she said.

'The Waitākere Rāhui Team … demands that Auckland Council closes the gaps and tightens enforcement urgently before the summer holiday season commences.'