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Flagstaff Restoration Kereru
Rehabilitation Moore's
Bush Restoration
Otanomomo Weed Eradication Quarantine
Island Restoration Wilding
Tree Control
Wilding Tree Control
The Wilding Tree Team was established in 1997 to combat the threat posed by wilding trees to natural ecosystems in Otago, where they can dominate and exclude native flora and fauna.
The objective
of the Wilding Tree Team was expressed as:
"To facilitate the containment and where possible eradication of
wilding trees in areas of conservation value in Otago, through both practical
and political efforts.”
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| Graeme Harraway instructing the Wilding Tree Team on chainsaw use and safety. |
Funding was
obtained from various sources, including the New Zealand Lotteries Grants
Board, Dr Marjorie Barclay Trust and from the Dunedin branch of Forest
and Bird itself. This was used to purchase chainsaws, hand tools, safety
equipment and training.
In six years of operation, the Wilding Tree Team has removed almost 70,000
wilding trees. These have been a mixture of tree species with the dominant
species being Pinus contorta, Pinus nigra and Douglas fir.
The team has worked on private, leasehold and conservation land from the
coast of Otago, to Central Otago and North Otago, and high country sites
in the Wakatipu basin.
Apart from the part-time paid coordinator, dozens of volunteers (148 in
total, with many turning out numerous times) have carried out the wilding
tree work, traveling 25,000km in the process
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| Wilding Tree Team coordinator David McFarlane at Awakino ski field. |
Wilding tree
advocacy work has also been undertaken by Forest and Bird; in 1997/1998,
Professor Alan Mark, Vice-Chairperson of the Dunedin Branch of Forest
and Bird, pushed for a “Wilding Tree Accord” among stakeholders,
that included forestry companies, local authorities and farmers.
The coordinator of the Wilding Tree Team and other members of Dunedin
Forest and Bird were involved in the Otago Regional Council submission
process on the Draft Pest Management Strategy for Otago. Subsequently,
P. contorta was included as a total control pest plant within
the Pest Management Strategy for Otago.
The Wilding Tree Team normally works at weekends, with proposed work days
notified by email 1-2 weeks in advance. Occasional weekend trips are run
to more distant wilding tree sites. A good level of physical fitness is
normally required, although some sites are suitable for people of all
physical abilities.
Many of the wilding tree sites are in interesting areas off the “beaten
track”, and as well as the feeling of doing important weed control
work, there is always the Wilding Tree Team tradition of an ice cream
on the way home!
For more information on this project and volunteering opportunities, contact
David McFarlane, 03-4737-259 or email: miniwaka@xtra.co.nz
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