The Department of Conservation says it will consult its iwi partners on what to do to about wild pigs in a Northland kauri forest.
Pig damage to Kauri. Photo: RNZ / Supplied
Conservationists raised the alarm this week about pig damage in the remote Warawara and Herekino forests.
The forests contain some of the largest stands of ancient kauri in the north.
DOC's Kaitaia operations manager David Neho said he would talk to tangata whenua about a possible action plan.
But he said the matter was reasonably complex: the wild pigs were kai for locals, yet the area they were destroying was taonga - a cultural treasure.
Mr Neho said DOC would need to talk to a variety of people about the best option.
The question would be how to cull the pigs without spreading kauri dieback even further.