Report slams MPI's handling of kauri dieback as 'slow to act and appalling'

As more of the native trees die from the disease there are calls for MPI to be removed from the programme to save them.

Slow to act, under performing and appalling. That’s how the Ministry for Primary Industry’s been described in an Environment Select Committee report into efforts to stop the spread of kauri dieback disease.

The report highlights concern from organisations fighting for the future of the native giants about MPI’s leadership, engagement and research.

Some groups are even calling for the department to be taken off the kauri dieback programme altogether.

"If MPI had been taken off the programme earlier we would see some seriously good things happening," said The Kauri Project’s Chris McBride.

The report states many concerns are shared by the MPs on the Environment Committee.

It reads: "It is clearly disappointing that little progress has been made towards the stated objectives of the kauri dieback programme."

The Tree Council’s Mels Barton, who provided feedback for the report, told 1 NEWS "MPI have been appalling, dishonest, difficult.

"We have a disaster, a governance and management disaster on our hands and there needs to be some really serious changes because it'll be too late if we don’t do something now."

She said MPI’s had a "lack of governance, lack of funding, lack of research, lack of surveillance, lack of consultation, lack of meaningful engagement… just no handle on the problem and allowing it to run away on us for the past how many years well over a decade so that now this problem is now completely out of control".

“The Kauri Dieback Programme has largely failed in its addressing of dieback, its education of people and its ability to actually do significant work in halting the disease”, said the Kauri Project’s Chris McBride.

Kauri dieback disease has been identified in the Upper North Island, on Great Barrier Island and in the Coromandel.

Auckland's Waitakere ranges is thought to be the most heavily hit, with around 20 percent of its Kauri population thought to be infected.

“The disease is entering further into areas it hasn’t reached previously” said Dr Rebecca Stirnemann from Forest and Bird.

“Kauri are dying in droves and still we don't have any action and we don't have any clear direction as to what we should be doing to solve this problem”, said Ms Barton.

MPI’s disappointed with the comments made about their work, but did admit there’re challenges.

"You are dealing with eight different members on that programme from Councils, to Iwi, to DOC and getting consensus on some very different decisions has been hard," said Head of Biosecurity NZ, Roger Smith.

He told 1 NEWS: "We're working towards getting a national pest management plan in place, so we're working with the government on that and we're working about setting up a new independent management agency.

"It will not be MPI, but will be an independent agency overseen by the Minister for Biosecurity.

"Right now we're working with the Government on funding options, once those funding options are sorted then we can move forward into a rapid implementation of the new management agency and the implementation of a national pest management plan," he said.

Mr Smith said a significant funding boost is needed.

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