The success of the work already undertaken at Mid Dome to control wilding conifers rests heavily on further investment from the Government to complete the existing work programme. 

The Mid Dome Wilding Trees Charitable Trust has written to all Government ministers with responsibilities relating to wilding conifer control, requesting a substantial funding increase for Phase II of the National Wilding Control Programme in the upcoming 2019/20 Government budget. 

Trust chair Ali Ballantine said wilding conifers present the biggest threat to the biodiversity of our tussock grasses. 

The Mid Dome project has achieved considerable success battling the aggressive wilding conifers, with a total of $7.6 million invested into control on over 60,000 ha of affected high country land around Mid Dome since the late 1990s, but more needs to be done. 

Since 2006 the control work has been led by the Trust in a collaborative partnership with Environment Southland, Department of Conservation, Land Information New Zealand and Ministry for Primary Industries. This has contained the infestation and taken out many of the high-altitude seed sources which are responsible for distant spread. A major boost in funding three years ago as part of a pilot by the Government allowed a huge amount of work to be done to ensure the most effective methods are being used and the funds are being targeted in the best way. 

However, while the programme is holding its ground, additional funding is required in order to contain or eradicate the wilding pines. 

Ali said the Trust’s goal is to remove all of the high-risk seed sources at Mid Dome by 2022 and to have the area fully cleared and handed back to the respective landowners to manage by 2030. This is possible if continued funding can be provided through Phase II of the National Wilding Conifer Control Programme, with the Trust estimating this will require up to $10 million of additional investment over that period. 

Environment Southland chief executive Rob Phillips said the value of the work being done by the Trust on Mid Dome cannot be underestimated. 

“Tackling wilding conifers isn’t an easy task, but we can’t just ignore it. If we don’t invest the necessary funds to get this under control now, we will lose the considerable ground the Trust has already gained. 

“The additional funding provided by the Government over the last three years has allowed significant progress to be made and we need this to continue so we can complete the work and hand the land back to the landowners for ongoing management.” 

The need for additional funding to complete the Mid Dome Programme will be the hot topic of conversation at the Trust’s volunteer workday to be held on Mid Dome this Saturday 9th March. 

This will be attended by nearly 30 keen volunteers who want to see at first-hand what is happening with wilding trees and to make a small but valuable contribution to the tree removal programme. The Trust has held two volunteer work days a year since the early 2000s, and thousands of hours of ground work by volunteers has resulted in the removal of millions of unwanted pine seedlings and saplings. 

Source: Environment Southland

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Portable accommodation built from a repurposed 26,000 litre plastic water tank is the latest innovation in the fight against wilding pines in Southland’s vulnerable high country. 

A ‘Turk’ – a self-contained shelter – was helicoptered into place on Mid Dome in early January, and will serve as on-site accomodation for contractors working in the remote Northern Southland region. These contractors undertake aerial spraying and ground clearance of pinus contorta, a highly vigorous invasive conifer species which threatens landscape values, biodiversity and farming productivity. 

The work is carried out under the supervision of ecology and biosecurity consultancy Boffa Miskell, which has been working with the Mid Dome Wilding Trees Charitable Trust since mid-2014. Trust chair Ali Timms says this new strategy will make an immediate impact. 

“Bringing the Turk on-site is a fantastic initiative by Boffa Miskell,” says Ali Timms. “Purchasing the Turk was a significant capital investment for the Trust, but we’re confident it’s going to make a big difference both in terms of efficiency, and in the well-being of the hard-working people on the ground.” 

Mid Dome’s remote location meant that biosecurity contractors typically had to travel up to three hours, by vehicle and foot, at the start and finish of each workday. Programme Manager Marcus Girvan of Boffa Miskell says finding a solution was a priority. 

“Clearing these remote areas is tough work; when you add in that amount of travel time – and this isn’t easy driving on well-used roads – the potential level of fatigue was a health and safety concern. The contractors were very keen to stay on-site, so we needed to find a way to make that happen.” 

The Turk was designed by Arrowtown adventurer Erik Bradshaw, who personally oversaw the installation of the Turk at Mid Dome as he did with three others in Antarctica in 2018. It’s very light for its size, and easily moved by helicopter. The plastic walls are flexible but strong, and capable of withstanding winds greater than 200kmh. 

Once in place, the Turk is levelled, and ballasted at the bottom to insure stability. Low-cost, quick-to-assemble and highly effective – this one is able to sleep four – it was the ideal solution for the Mid Dome Trust. 

“As of this week, we’ll have a team on-site in the Turk. They’ll stay nine nights at a stretch and then have four days off,” says Marcus. “We’ve piped in water from a nearby stream, and there’s a solar panel to charge phones and other devices. We’ll make adjustments and add other amenities over the coming months, as we settle into this new way of working. We’re pretty excited about it.” 

The Mid Dome Wilding Trees Charitable Trust governs the activities of the Mid Dome Wilding Trees Control Programme, which aims to eradicate wilding pines from Mid Dome and surrounding land. Lodgepole pines (pinus contorta) were planted on 250ha of Mid Dome between the 1950s and 1980s for erosion control, and have since spread to threaten over 100,000 hectares. 

Boffa Miskell manages the Mid Dome Wilding Trees Control Programme on behalf of the Trust; and works with stakeholders including local Iwi and landowners, LINZ, DOC, Environment Southland and MPI. 

Source: Boffa Miskell

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 The Mid Dome Wilding Trees Charitable Trust is seeing a change of guard as two new trustees have recently been appointed to vacant seats. 

Environment Southland councillors have approved the appointment of Richard Bowman and Glenys Dickson as trustees on the Trust, which was set up to address the spread of Pinus contorta across some of Southland’s most valuable and vulnerable high country tussock and pastoral landscapes. 

Glenys is a first term Gore District councillor, chair of the Forest Hill Foundation Trust, and board member of both the Waiau Fisheries and Wildlife Enhancement Trust, and the Pacific Development Trust. She will fill the vacancy that has been left by former SIT environmental management programme leader Dr Ross Ramsay. 

Richard is Environment Southland’s outgoing biosecurity manager, with 24 years under his belt with the council. He fills a vacancy left by the retirement of Sir Alan Mark. 

The new trustees were appointed in consensus by the Trust’s three funding partners, Environment Southland, the Department of Conservation, and Land Information New Zealand. 

Environment Southland chairman Nicol Horrell said the Trust plays a key role in managing the significant threat to Southland’s tussock grassland, and has provided some outstanding work over the years. 

He said the council was delighted to support both nominations. 

“Richard, who is just retiring from Environment Southland, has been very much involved in supporting the Trust over many years, so he will be a very valuable and welcome addition. And Glenys is well known for her interest in conservation, and has been a supporter of the Trust’s work in the past.” 

Trust chairman Ali Timms said she was looking forward to working with the new trustees. 

“Richard brings a huge depth of knowledge and experience to the role, due to his involvement in wilding issues over more than 20 years. This has involved a long history with the Mid Dome programme, and also advocating at a national level for improved wilding conifer management and control techniques. 

“Glenys has a long and proud record of being involved in environmental projects and initiatives, and we’re fortunate that she has also accepted our invitation to join the Trust.” 

Source: Environment Southland

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 Jenny Campbell 

A keen, enthusiastic and committed group of 28 people from across Southland, Otago, the North Island and even from around the world used a lot of energy to remove wilding pine seedlings from a large face at the top of Mid Dome in northern Southland on Saturday. 

Environment Southland biosecurity officer and organiser for the day Adam Brown said the problem arose when non-native species were planted to try to prevent erosion in the high country, such as at Mid Dome, with the wildings resulting and taking over the native tussock grasslands. 

Mid Dome Wilding Trees Charitable Trust chair Ali Timms Ballentine told the participants that the Trust was formed in 2006 after the risks from wildings to farmland, fire danger and the loss of water through the trees were recognised and responded to. 

“Over the years, with about 30 volunteers at each of two working bees a year, they have removed millions of seedlings and trees which is invaluable and vital for the Trust’s work,” she said. 

“Wildings are a great problem across the country, often not recognised. 

“Costs this year are $1735 per hectare, so with help from volunteers, more efficient chemicals and techniques, they all make the dollars go further.” 

Boffa Miskell project manager Marcus Girvan said he managed all operational activities for the Trust, including aerial boom spraying, aerial basal bark application and ground control teams mostly using chainsaws plus volunteers using hand-tools. 

“I have been in this position for five years with over a million-dollar budget in the past two years thanks to funding partners of Department of Conservation, ES and Land Information New Zealand,” he said. 

“We are making good progress with aerial spraying and ground crews with the aim to get seedlings before the 4-year-old stage when they start forming cones and seeding, which will destroy all the good work we have done to date.” 

Timms Ballentine said the Trust had a multi-million dollar application in to the National Wilding Conifer Control Programme administered by Ministry for Primary Industries it was hoping would be successful. 

“Thank you to the Environment Southland and Department of Conservation staff who have spent this time on their weekend to work with the energetic volunteers to make this such an effective working bee in these ideal mild, calm and overcast conditions.” 

Source: Stuff.co.nz

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LINZ Biosecurity Manager Dave Mole, along with 30 other volunteers spent the day removing an estimated 6,000 young wilding pines at Mid Dome in Southland recently. 

LINZ has had a long association with Mid Dome, and the volunteer days held each year support a much larger on-going eradication programme of both aerial and ground control work. 

Dave says the volunteer days play an important and cost-effective role, to reduce the threat of spread in existing low-affected areas by removing the young trees before they start producing cones. The wildings eradication programme is led by the Mid Dome Charitable Trust, in conjunction with Environment Southland, the Department of Conservation and LINZ. 

Dave sits on the operational board of the trust which aims, by 2024, to eradicate wilding pines from the Mid Dome project area to the point where any re-growth can be managed by landholders. 

Aerial spraying is happening around Christmas on high density seed-source areas, and the site the volunteers worked on will be revisited again in four years time. 

About Mid Dome 

Led by the Mid Dome Charitable Trust, a programme is in place to eradicate the seed source wilding trees at Mid Dome by 2024. The programme is funded through annual contributions from LINZ, Department of Conservation and Environment Southland, along with other sources such as lotteries grants etc. 

The Mid Dome project area encompasses an area of 68,602ha approximately mid-way between Invercargill and Queenstown. It features extensive alpine tussock, interspersed with pastoral farmland and remnant beech forest, and has high scenic value, and high importance for pastoral farming. 

Lodgepole pines (Pinus contorta) were planted on 250 ha of Mid Dome between the 1950s and 1980s for erosion control. Strong prevailing north westerly winds make Mid Dome a perfect take-off point for the up to 1.5 million seeds these wildings produce per hectare every year. Seeds have been found 40km downwind of Mid Dome and up to altitudes of 1400m. The shade wilding pines produce eliminate most other plants beneath them. As a result, 475 ha of Mid Dome is now totally covered by wildings and another 13,000 ha downwind are seriously infested. 

Source: LINZ

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