Taranaki Regional Council media release
18 May 2009
For immediate release

DESTROY PAMPAS NOW, LAND HOLDERS URGED

Taranaki properties are being inspected for pampas, which land holders are required to destroy to comply with the region’s Pest Plants Management Strategy.

The Taranaki Regional Council says action may be taken over non-compliance revealed in its current round of inspections.

Under the Strategy, all common and purple pampas must be destroyed now unless the plants are being used as shelterbelts and are prevented from flowering or seeding – but even these must be destroyed by July 2012.

Pampas threatens biodiversity by suppressing native plants along forest and streambank margins, in scrub and secondary forests, and wetlands and coastal areas. It also hinders horticultural production, particularly by strangling forestry seedlings in planted forests, and it can also be a nuisance on roadside verges.

Spraying with glyphosate or Gallant, or grazing or physical removal are the recommended treatments.

The Taranaki Regional Council Compliance Manager, Bruce Pope, says land occupiers should be destroying pampas shelterbelts to meet the 2012 deadline. In the meantime they must be trimmed to prevent seeding.

He says alternatives for shelter can include trees, flaxes and native toetoe. These not only provide shelter but enhance landscape values and biodiversity values.

“Pampas should not be confused with native toetoe, which is usually smaller with a waxy surface on the leaf base and droopy flower heads,” says Mr Pope.

For more information, call the Taranaki Regional Council on 0800 736 222 and ask to speak to a Pest Plant Investigating Officer, or go to www.taranakiplants.net and click on “weeds”, then “pest plants”.

ENDS

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