Kauri dieback: More tracks in Waitākere Ranges to reopen following 2018 rāhui

Friday, 19 February 2021

Pip and Mawhai are New Zealand's first dogs to be trained to sniff out kauri dieback

Two more tracks in an Auckland regional park are due to reopen, three years after a rāhui was placed on the forest to prevent further spread of kauri dieback.

Forested areas in West Auckland’s Waitākere Ranges and Hunua Ranges were closed off in 2018 to protect the trees from kauri dieback disease and prevent further spread.

This meant more than 100 tracks in Waitākere and more than 10 high-risk tracks in Hunua weren’t accessible to the public.

Views from the Omanawanui track in Waitākere Ranges.

But on Sunday at midday, Omanawanui and Puriri Ridge tracks in the Waitākere Ranges will reopen.

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Kauri dieback disease on the Maungaroa Ridge Track in the Waitākere Ranges. (File photo)

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Cleaning stations have been installed at all open tracks in Auckland to help in the fight of kauri dieback.

It is a “significant milestone” in the reopening of the Te Ara Tahura/Hillary Trail, Auckland Council said.

It will mean people are able to hike from Karamatura Valley in Huia through to Anawhata, near Piha.

Auckland mayor Phil Goff said he was pleased to see the tracks reopen.

“Aucklanders and visitors love the Waitākere Ranges and West Auckland walking tracks,” Goff said.

“The tracks were closed to protect our iconic native kauri trees from dieback disease.”

A Natural Environment Targeted Rate had allowed $311 million worth of investment over a 10-year period to upgrade tracks, protect kauri and enable the ranges to be enjoyed by hikers again.

“I thank Te Kawerau ā Maki (West Auckland iwi) for their support in protecting this area and helping to make it safe for kauri and able to be enjoyed by future generations.”

Te Kawerau Iwi Holdings director Edward Ashby said the track upgrades would keep the forest safe.

“It has always been about protecting and healing the forest both for its own sake, and so future generations can come here and enjoy this taonga in years to come,” Ashby said.

Ashby said he understood access to the forest had been missed, but he thanked the “public who have by-and-large embraced the ethic of kaitiakitanga (guardianship) and helped us help this treasure”.

The rāhui was placed over the ranges by Te Kawerau-ā-Maki in 2018 after the disease was first identified on Maungaroa Ridge in Piha.

Earlier this year, it was announced council’s biosecurity team had two new members to help sniff out kauri dieback – Pip and Mawhai.

The dogs are the first in the world to be trained to sniff out the disease and will be working in the Waitākere Ranges.