The Waipoua Forest Trust says the Transport Agency is putting Tane Mahuta and other giant kauri under threat by careless management of the road that runs through the Northland forest.
Tane Mahuta Photo: 123RF
The conservation trust sent a report to the agency saying endangered plants have been weed-sprayed and rare trees chainsawed, and invasive weeds are running rampant.
The trust's spokesperson, Keith Stewart, said the agency was ignoring its responsibility to protect the forest, and the iwi in charge of managing the roadside needed to take more care.
He said the agency was being cavalier.
"I think the problem lies with the NZTA [New Zealand Transport Agency], they're the ones at the end of the day who have the responsibility for that road and for the forest it goes through, the problem that we have at the trust right now is that the response from NZTA has been to completely ignore our complaints, completely ignore them."
The Transport Agency said it had met trust representatives to try to understand their concerns, and was auditing the management of the forest.