A National Pest Management Plan for the protection of kauri came into effect on 2 August 2022.
A National Pest Management Plan is the strongest form of protection available under the Biosecurity Act 1993 to help protect kauri from the soil-borne pathogen called Phytophthora agathidicida (PA), which causes kauri ‘dieback’ disease.
The National Plan for kauri introduces ten new rules/regulations, the most important ones for trampers being Rules 8 and 9:
Plan rule 8: obligation to clean items before entering or exiting kauri forest
(1) Immediately before entering or exiting a kauri forest, a person must clean any risk item that is in their possession.
(2) The person must clean the risk item so that visible soil and organic matter is removed.
Plan rule 9: obligation to use cleaning stations
(1) A person who uses a track or road in a kauri forest must clean applicable items at each cleaning station they pass.
(2) The item must be cleaned so that visible soil and organic matter has been removed.
(3) An applicable item is an item that the cleaning station is designed to clean.
The full text of the Biosecurity Order is available here.
Photo at top: Kauri dieback in Puketi Forest, Kerikeri (c) Danilo Hegg
