First major Waitākere Ranges kauri track due to reopen

Thursday, 13 December 2018

Park rangers and contractors are working to reopen the Kitekite track in the wake of the kauri dieback track closures (video first published December 2018).

Auckland Council is spending about $330,000 to reopen one of its star walking tracks in the Waitākere Ranges.

Piha's Kitekite track was closed in May, along with more than 100 other trails in the ranges in an effort to and stop the spread of killer kauri dieback disease.

Before the closure, the 2km walk through native bush was a favourite for day-trippers and was known for its stunning waterfall views.

The new and improved Kitekite track features better protection against dieback

The council hopes to have it reopened before Christmas, using sophisticated restoration techniques that will make it the first of the major tracks to be reopened.

**READ MORE:

West Auckland's Kitekite track is known for its stunning waterfall views.

* Kauri dieback: National treasure on the brink of extinction

* Kauri dieback: The battle against the 'biological bulldozer'

* Slow progress on upgrading tracks as fight against kauri**

Senior ranger and kauri dieback manager Stu Leighton said the restoration was all about creating a barrier between people's feet and root systemss.

This was because the kauri dieback microorganism is spread through water and soil, he said, particularly on the bottom of people's shoes.

Nearby kererū watched over construction works.

On Tuesday a helicopter was carting buckets of gravel to the upper region of the track.

The gravel, sourced from a quarry just south of the Bombay Hills, consisted of very fine particles that when poured over a plastic mat hardened like concrete.

The dieback disease was discovered in the Waitākere Ranges in 2006 and since then thousands of kauri have died.

But before the brown gravel could be approved for use, teams first tested and cleared it for the presence of the dieback microorganism.

Leighton said every construction technique had to be re-thought so as to not accidently spread the very thing they were trying to mitigate.

The gravel was laid over plastic matting to keep it in place.

For example contractors sprayed their boots with disinfectant almost every hour. Also, when setting the foundations for the boardwalks, disinfected probes were first sunk into the ground to check for kauri roots.

'All our techniques are about enhancing forest health. It takes much longer doing it this way than how we would traditionally do a track but we'll end up with a much better result.'

Nearby the Kitekite track, vast stands of giant 300-year-old kauri trees showed the tell-tail signs of infection.

The council's Dave Markham estimated the entire project would cost about $330,000, with the biggest expenses being the recycled plastic decking, labour and helicopter hire.

Kauri are native to the upper North Island and have strongholds in Auckland's Waitākere and Hunua Ranges, as well as parts of Northland and the Waikato.

Public were urged to do their bit for dieback and disinfect their shoes upon entering and exiting open tracks.

It is considered a taonga species - meaning it holds special cultural significance.

The dieback disease was discovered in the Waitākere Ranges in 2006 and since then thousands of kauri have died.

The disease takes the form of a mould that gets into the tree from its roots causing tree death within years. There is no known cure.

'If kauri trees were to disappear, the whole structure of the forest would fundamentally change,' Leighton said.

'So it is not so much about losing a tree, it's about a whole part of our forest and heritage.'

Near the Kitekite track, vast stands of giant 300-year-old kauri trees showed the tell-tale signs of infection. Several, having lost all foliage, stood bone-white among their peers like skeletons.

But with new track stabilisation techniques and disinfectant stations, Leighton said the risk of humans spreading the disease decreased.

He said the Kitekite track was just one example of the many council would be reopening over the next 10 years, using is $100 million dieback budget.

One of the best thing the public could do to help fight the spread of the disease, Leighton said, was to disinfect their shoes upon entering and exiting tracks.