Māori call to ban access to large Auckland regional park to save the kauri

Wednesday, 15 November 2017

A dead kauri on the Maungaroa Ridge Track above Piha in the Waitākere Ranges.

An iwi will press ahead with a public ban on entering one of Auckland's largest parks before the end of this year.

Kauri in the Waitākere Ranges have been extensively logged in the past, and now an incurable disease was killing what's left – spread by human feet.

The large green land area on this map of Auckland is the Waitākere Ranges Regional Park, with its 16,000 hectares of native forest.

They were the life-force and spirit of the forest and their destruction was an existential threat to Te Kawerau ā Maki, its trust's executive manager Edward Ashby said in a letter to Auckland Council.

The iwi faced the loss of its heartland, and the rāhui - or prohibition on entering - on the entire Waitākere Ranges was necessary as its concern has not been taken seriously.

Dead kauri at Huia in the Waitākere Ranges Regional Park.

A study has shown 44 per cent of people are not using the shoe cleaning stations that can prevent the spread of kauri dieback.

* Closing the Waitakere Ranges might be 'just not possible', but could it even work?**

'When the issue has been raised, our voice is drowned by a cacophony of self-interested community voices, operational policies, and political lethargy,' he said.

The ranges tower over West Auckland, but people going for a walk there will soon be doing so against the wishes of Māori.

'The time to act is now, and to act boldly.'

Ashby has asked the council to impose a Controlled Area Notice in support of the ban, but said mana whenua intended to press ahead regardless.

There are 256 kilmetres of walking tracks in the Waitākere Ranges Regional Park.

Auckland Council confirmed it was considering the measure, but was weighing up its effect on people and the practicalities of such a ban.

But Te Kawerau ā Maki would not wait another decade 'for deliberations or further trialling of methods', Ashby said.

'Our forest will be dead by then.

'Subsequently as kaitiaki of the area, we have no choice but to close down the entire forest, [excluding] roads and private property, to ensure its long-term protection and survival.'

Ashby said a ceremony would be held to close all the tracks before the end of this year, but they would be opened one by one over time as it was deemed safe to do so.

People doing activities such as pest control could be given warrants to allow them to access the forest after they had had cultural and scientific training, he said.

Auckland Council director community services Ian Maxwell said they were considering the effects of closing the 16,000 hectare park.

'The council respects the position of Te Kawerau a Maki and its motivation for proposing a rāhui for this area.

'We agree that closure of the forest, to allow a focus on forest health, is a simple and strong message which could help manage the impact and spread of kauri dieback disease.'

The council was considering the impact of such a closure on both recreational users and those who live and work in the Waitākere Ranges, as well as the practical side of imposing a rāhui.

Council representatives would speak with Te Kawerau in the coming weeks to make a decision.

'This is the next step in understanding whether a rāhui, if enacted by iwi, could be supported by the council.

'At the same time, the council continues to look at other options for partial closure of areas of the ranges; closure of some tracks or parts of tracks; and tools it needs to have in place to manage or enforce closures.'

The council's Kauri Dieback Report 2017, released in August, showed 19 per cent of kauri were infected in the park, with another 5 per cent possibly infected.

Worryingly, the report also showed 58 per cent of the 91 largest kauri groves, larger than 5 hectares in size, were either infected or might be infected.

The disease spreads to neighbouring trees without cure, so all kauri in these groves could already be doomed.

The Waitākere Ranges Regional Park has 2571 hectares of dense kauri forest, the report said.

There were 172 visitor tracks and 108 have kauri along them.

Maxwell said there was 15 areas in the park which were already closed to the public in order to protect kauri.

The council was upgrading shoe cleaning stations, and has ordered 23 new ones to be installed by the end of the year, he said.

Tracks were also being upgraded or re-routed, with 125 tonnes of gravel being added.

Maxwell said better signs were also being put in and ambassadors would be stationed at tracks to talk with the public.

Councillor Penny Hulse, head of the council's environment committee, has previously said closing the whole forest was 'just not possible' due to the logistics involved.

The Auckland Council committee voted on November 14 to review a plan of spending significantly more on biosecurity and to put it out for consultation.

The proposal was to spend $307 million over the next 10 years to rein in the region's pests – more than threefold its current $88 million budget.

The battle to curb kauri dieback and Dutch elm disease was at the heart of the funding increase, getting 10 times more than the $5 million currently allotted to it.

SUPPORT FOR PARK CLOSURE

Four environmental groups supported a Closed Area Notice being issued until tracks were made safe for kauri.

The Tree Council, Waitākere Ranges Protection Society, Forest and Bird and the Friends of Regional Parks said meetings with the council had been going on for six months and patience was wearing thin.

'Everyone agrees that the rāhui is required before Auckland's forest is inundated with summer visitors and yet the council continues to drag its heels and make excuses. It's not good enough,' The Tree Council spokeswoman Dr Mels Barton said.

Forest and Bird spokesman Nick Beveridge said the council's own report said urgent and drastic action was needed to stop extinction of kauri.

Otherwise trees in some areas, such as near Piha, would be gone in 5 years and across the park within a generation.

The council also had a duty to stop the disease spreading from the Waitākere Ranges to other locations, he said.

The environmental groups said the cost of 'an urgent programme of essential actions to protect kauri' would be about $50 million.