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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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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