Environment / Law

Major closures to Auckland ranges against Kauri dieback

09:09 am on 20 February 2018

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Extensive closures are being proposed in the Waitakere and the Hunua Ranges to fight kauri dieback. The Auckland Council is considering spending millions of dollars in a new effort to restrict visitors from entering the regional parks from May 1st. Kauri dieback, for which there is yet no cure, affects a fifth of kauri trees in the Waitakere Ranges, a scale that's doubled in the last five years. Kathryn Ryan speaks to Auckland Council Biodiversity Manager Rachel Kelleher and Edward Ashby from the West Auckland iwi, Te Kawerau a Maki, has been calling on the council to stop people entering the Waitakere Ranges since last July.