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Visitors could be banned from the entire Waitakere Ranges Regional Park, as Auckland Council tries to fight the disease that could wipe out kauri trees in a generation.

With several of the Park’s most popular tracks closed in 2015 to try to prevent kauri dieback spreading on people's shoes, a newly released Council report on the kauri dieback, has found that the number of trees with the devastating disease more than doubled in five years.

The report also advised that closing trails was not working and has called for an independent review to look at the merits and practicalities of banning the public from the entire regional park.

The report's authors said the recommendation was not an easy one to make, but that it may not be possible to prevent the spread of kauri dieback without it.

The report showed the Waitakere Ranges Regional Park was now the most infected in the country with almost one in five trees was infected - up from one in 12 in 2011 - and another 4.5% have been classified as ‘possibly infected’.

Of the distinct stands of forest with in the park, 58% have some infected trees within them.

The Waitakere Ranges Regional Park takes up 16,000 hectaraes of Auckland's west coast, runs alongside popular beaches like Piha and is a hugely popular visiting place.The report also recommended upgrading the disinfected stations on popular walking tracks, which required people to scrub their shoes, increasing the monitoring of them and assessing the role of wild pigs in the spread of the disease.

Environmental group the Tree Council wants people immediately banned from the entire Park to stop the spread, with spokesperson Dr Mels Barton said the council must take urgent action.

Dr Barton stated “the infection has got to such a point, and we are spreading it so fast, that if we don't do that, we will lose kauri, extinctions will happen within five years. So we have to take drastic action now."

Dr Barton said the closures would not have to be for a long time, just enough for the council to put in protection measures, like better walkways and cleaning stations. 

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We hope that you value the news that we publish so while you're here can we ask for your support?

The news we publish at www.ausleisure.com.au is independent, credible (we hope) and free for you to access, with no pay walls and no annoying pop-up ads.

However, as an independent publisher, can we ask for you to support us by subscribing to the printed Australasian Leisure Management magazine - if you don't already do so.

Published bi-monthly since 1997, the printed Australasian Leisure Management differs from this website in that it publishes longer, in-depth and analytical features covering aquatics, attractions, entertainment, events, fitness, parks, recreation, sport, tourism and venues management.

Subscriptions cost just $90 a year.

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