Kauri Rescue Launch in Northland

The Kauri Rescue team will host the Northland launch of the project in the Whangarei Toll Stadium at 6pm on Tuesday 3 October 2017.

Landowners wanting to join the Kauri Rescue project and treat their sick kauri trees can do so on the website at www.kaurirescue.org.nz, or by signing up at the launch event.

The project team comprising scientists, social scientists, iwi and community groups which gained two-year funding from the Government's Biological Heritage National Science Challenge www.biologicalheritage.nz is extending the project across Northland.

The exciting project Kauri RescueTM otherwise known as the Community Control of Kauri Dieback: Tiaki Kauri seeks to engage the public in refining a new citizen science tool for the treatment of Kauri Dieback Disease, which is decimating kauri forests in northern New Zealand.

Attendees at the launch will hear about how kauri dieback is killing kauri, the promising results of the research work to date using phosphite as a treatment and the social science and mātaurangi Māori elements of the project.

Anyone who suspects they have kauri dieback but has not yet had it confirmed should contact Kauri Rescue and book in for free soil testing to confirm the disease, which will be provided by Northland Regional Council’s Biosecurity Department. They will then be able to join the project and be given a kit to enable them to treat their own trees. Anyone who already has had kauri dieback confirmed on their property can join and should contact the team immediately.

Landowners will work alongside scientists to treat their own trees with a chemical called phosphite, which has shown great promise in Kauri Dieback Programme-funded scientific trials, by enabling kauri to fight back against the Phytophthora agathidicida pathogen that causes the disease.

The project also encourages landowners to test other treatment techniques, encouraging both western science and mātauranga Māori methods. One of the requirements of landowners joining the project is that they agree to rigorously collect monitoring results and data on all treatments so that their efficacy can be determined. The aim of the project is to offer to landowners and community options to control the kauri dieback disease.

Project Team Leader Dr Ian Horner of Plant & Food Research is delighted at the opportunity to take his research to the next level and engage the public in actively developing the treatment methods themselves.

"We hope that people will find this opportunity empowering and a positive step forward in the fight against Kauri Dieback Disease. Working together to develop and test these methods and feeding results into a wider research pool will accelerate development of robust methods. Thus, in the near future we could have effective treatments that the public can apply themselves and support others in their community to treat their own trees" he said.

However the Kauri Rescue team wants to make it clear that the use of phosphite or other treatment techniques is not a cure for kauri dieback, and nor does it immunise trees against future re-infection. The most important message that the team is promoting is that we must stop the continued spread of the disease to new areas by diligently applying the hygiene protocols. Dr Ian Horner says

“there is hope that by developing these treatment methods we can save individual trees and keep them alive, but we all need to work together to stop the spread of the disease if we are to save kauri as a species. Scrubbing and spraying our footwear, staying on the track, keeping dogs on a lead and respecting closed tracks are essential measures that we must all do if we are to save our kauri from this terrible disease. Kauri dieback is like AIDS for plants - we can’t cure it, but we can stop its spread by being scrupulously hygienic and changing our behaviour. Educating others about how important this behaviour is something we can all do to help”.

Kauri Rescue is looking for more Ambassadors from the community to join the team, support others and help spread the word about the project to friends, family and neighbours. Anyone who cares about kauri can become a Kauri Rescue Ambassador. If you are interested please come along to the hui or contact the team via their website.

There will be plenty of time for questions and to meet the team.

ENDS

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