Christine Martin is concerned about the spread of moth plant and is keen to find others wanting to do something about it.
Christine Martin is concerned about the spread of moth plant and is keen to find others wanting to do something about it.
Like a moth to a flame, Christine Martin has been honing in on one of the district's pest plants.
Christine has a particular dislike of moth plant and is on a seek and destroy mission to help hasten its demise.
"I'm disappointed to see this pest plant growing over trees on the approaches to Te Puke," she says.
Christine has already done some killing of the vine, and is keen to find like-minded people who could spend a bit of time reducing its presence.
"I notice that it has increased greatly over this last year and although some people say it has a pretty flower, it is a dangerous plant as the sap can cause allergies and dermatitis."
She says the plant is pretty easy to get rid of, by finding and cutting the bottom of the vine and cutting it.
"We don't have it on our property, it's where I see it driving around the place [that concerns me]. There's heaps, whole hedges covered in it that weren't last year."
People need to protect themselves from the plant's sap, and Christine says she has "got stuck into" the plant where and when she can.
Bay of Plenty Regional Council's biosecurity manager Greg Corbett says moth plant is not currently regulated through the Bay of Plenty Regional Pest Management Plan (RPMP).
"Council does however provide advice to both landowners and the community on its control.
"We also invest in biocontrol programmes to reduce the impacts of this pest plant. Landowners, particularly those with commercial horticultural or agricultural operations, are reminded that not undertaking pest plant and weed control can negatively impact on productivity and the wider environment."
He says that while the council is unable to financially support community efforts for species not listed in the RPMP, it does encourage neighbours and the community to come together to tackle infestations of widespread weeds such as moth plant.
The regional council's biocontrol began in 2019 and was a world first at the time.
Moth plant has the potential to grow up to 10m in height. It can form heavy masses that smother and kill native vegetation by collapsing on the canopy.
The council released a moth plant biocontrol agent at a site just outside of Tauranga. The larvae of the moth plant beetle chew and destroy the roots of the plant, weakening and slowing its spread.
''Research and monitoring will continue for a number of years before wider distribution of the moth plant beetles is considered, but initial results are promising,'' says Greg.
Christine is aware of a group in Auckland called STAMP, the Society Totally Against Moth Plant, and would like to start a local group that could look at getting rid of the biggest infestations.
+ INFO Contact Christine via email at christine@eol.co.nz.
