Environment Southland’s top boss has given a blunt assessment on a wilding pine issue plaguing parts of the country.

Southland has previously been described as reaching a “tipping point”, with trees spreading aggressively through high country, farmland and conservation areas.

Environment Southland acting chief executive Rob Phillips said about $25 million extra was required to tackle the issue of wilding pines, on top of the “ballpark” $20 million currently spent by government and councils.

“We’re hardly treading water, but we are going backwards,” he said.

Douglas fir has previously been highlighted as a species of concern in Southland, because of the distance its seed can travel, tolerance to climate and commercial popularity.

Phillips touched on that point, saying the tree was seen as a favourable production species, making it a challenge to turn that around and put liability back on plantations.

“This is certainly the biggest biodiversity threat to our tussock grasses in the South Island and central North Island.”

His comments followed concern from councillor Alastair Gibson that the council had recorded its containment of the trees as “partially achieved” in a biosecurity report.

“I think we’re going backwards to be honest,” Gibson said.

The council report measured a range of outcomes for a one-year period and showed the council had reached most of its biodiversity targets, but it also noted some larger biosecurity programmes were beginning to struggle, because the scale of pest issues was greater than the capacity to respond.

Harmful species the council fought fell under four categories – marine, animal, plant and freshwater.

21/11/2025

Source: RNZ

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The rise of a new villain and a lack of funding are two challenges facing a trust dedicated to removing wilding trees in Northern Southland.

The Mid Dome Wilding Trees Charitable Trust hosted a hui in Lumsden on Wednesday to discuss the challenges facing the trust.

Those attending included Southland District Mayor Rob Scott, district councillors, trust members and Department of Conservation and Environment Southland staff members.

The trust was formed in 2006 to deal with the spread of wilding pines in the Mid Dome area.

The Mid Dome project area surrounds the Cupola and Mid Dome ranges, and comprises an area of 68,602ha about halfway between Invercargill and Queenstown.

Trust chairwoman Ali Ballantine said during the last volunteer day the trust held to remove wilding trees she had been surprised to see how many Douglas fir seedlings were growing.

While seeds were being dispersed from existing plantations the problem could get worse as more trees were planted for carbon farming, Ms Ballantine said.

There were few rules to hold those planting trees accountable for the spread of seeds that caused the problems, she said.

Something needed to be done to stop the planting of species in inappropriate places.

“This problem is not going away — it’s going to bankrupt us.”

Environment Southland biosecurity plants team leader Jolie Hazley said she had seen the numbers of wilding Douglas fir trees increase rapidly in the past 10 years.

Wilding Douglas fir could be found throughout Northern Southland as wind carried the seed. Some were growing up to 14km from the nearest seeding trees, she said.

Trust member Geoffrey Young said if the trees were allowed to keep growing it would lead to a “very real biodiversity loss”.

The trees could grow at altitudes of up to about 2400m.

“You would have virtually no high-altitude tussock country anywhere in the country.”

Where land was grazed the seedlings would be eaten off but higher up there would be nothing to stop the trees taking over, he said.

Ms Ballantine said the trust had made good progress in eliminating Pinus contorta and Pinus mugo but its work was affected by a cut in funding.

If the group had received the same level of government funding as in the past the task would have been completed by 2033, she said.

“With a couple of years of inadequate funding, we’re on the back foot again.”

Trust member Richard Bowman said it made sense to finish the job now.

“A dollar spent today is going to save you $90 50 years down the track because you get on and fix the problem.”

11/06/2025

Source: Rural Life

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Environment Southland staff lending a hand at a Mid Dome volunteer day. Funding for a trust undertaking wilding pine work in Southland has seen its funding reduce significantly of late. Photo: Environment Southland/Supplied

Southland pest control group fears 18 years of work could be in jeopardy amid difficult conditions.

Since 2006, Mid Dome Wilding Trees Charitable Trust has worked to cull rogue pines from over 40,000 ha of land east of the Mataura River.

But funding has become increasingly difficult to obtain, and the once $5.5 million operation was now operating on a fraction of its budget.

Trust chairperson Ali Ballantine told Environment Southland on Friday that her group was beginning to feel the pinch.

Land Information New Zealand (LINZ) was set to cut its $100,000 per annum funding from next financial year, and the Department of Conservation had reduced its funding over 12 years from $300,000 per annum to just $50,000.

“Our programme area and surrounding landowners are now also facing wilding spread infestation from a growing number of carbon and productive Douglas fir plantations on nearby high and windy seed takeoff sites,” Ballantine said.

“All our good work is at risk.”

The submission prepared by the trust for council’s long term plan hearing said wilding trees were widely regarded as the country’s worst weed problem.

Wilding trees are regarded as the country’s worst weed problem. Photo: Central Otago Wilding Conifer Group

They currently affected over 2 million ha of land which would increase to 25 percent of the country’s total land area if left unchecked.

Southland was highlighted as a significantly affected area.

The trust believed the council had historic responsibility for the issue due to the Catchment Board instigating plantings at Mid Dome between the 1960s and 1980s.

Ballantine said it was time for the council to boost its annual funding of $50,000 – which had remained stagnant for 18 years – to “at least” $80,000 per year.

Proposed new capital-value based biosecurity and biodiversity rates were a good idea, she said, with the trust keen to receive the income from landowners within the programme area.

“If we hadn’t had the programme in place since 2006, then all the land as far as West Otago would now be infested, because you have a bunny hop effect,” Ballantine said.

“We think we’ve done a pretty good job of stopping that spread. Most of seed rain now would come within our programme area.”

The trust’s review of the Mid Dome Wilding Tree Strategy last year showed approximately $20 million had been spent to date.

It concluded the programme was halfway towards its goal of completing works by 2034.

Ballantine has previously served on Environment Southland as a councillor and chair.

28/05/2024

Source: RNZ

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They’re considered an environmentalists’ nightmare.

Some groups work tirelessly to remove invasive wilding trees from the high country, but others now have resource consent to plant them.

The Mid Dome Wilding Trees Charitable Trust, which has spent thousands of hours clearing wilding pines from other sites, is dismayed that the Southland District Council has granted a non-notified consent, with conditions, to Mataura Valley Station, near Kingston, to be planted out mainly in Douglas fir.

The trust was now seeking advice from Government ministers.

01/06/2020

Source: Stuff

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