Northland kauri dieback protection work wins major engineering awards

Work to stop the spread of kauri dieback in Northland, including this walking track, has won two major awards

A ‘’world-leading’' collaborative project to save Northland’s kauri forests from the deadly dieback disease has won two major engineering accolades at the 2023 ACE Awards.

Frame Group, a specialist engineering consultancy in the outdoor recreation and forestry sectors, won a Silver Award for its leadership, collaboration and consultation.

It developed the National Kauri Dieback Track Infrastructure Guidelines, managed and delivered track upgrades, and trained and upskilled communities in best practice techniques for infrastructure maintenance and upgrading.

As well, the whole project team – Frame Group, Northland Regional Council, Ministry for Primary Industries and Department of Conservation – took out the Sustainability Award.

Award judges said the collaboration between the organisations was key in establishing world-leading guidance on the management and mitigation of kauri dieback.

Kauri forests covered 1.2 million hectares of the country around 1000 years ago but they are now under threat from kauri dieback, a fungus-type pathogen that damages the tree’s root system and cripples the tree’s ability to take on water and nutrients.

There is no known cure and the fungus serves as a death sentence. Its spread can be reduced by avoiding any movement of soil around the roots of trees, often spread on dirty footwear, animals, equipment and vehicles.

An aerial view of an infected kauri tree in Waipoua Forest

ACE New Zealand Chief Executive Helen Davidson said for Frame Group to be recognised twice at the shows just how remarkable this piece of work is.

‘’They are experts in their field and we’re glad to celebrate a project that protects New Zealand’s iconic trees,’’ Davidson said.

“It’s a fantastic example of industry collaboration and everyone involved should be really proud.”

The Kauri Dieback mitigation project was one of 12 projects to win Gold, Silver or Merit at the ACE Awards Gala in Wellington last week.

The awards are presented by ACE (the Association of Consulting and Engineering) New Zealand.

Davidson says the event is the pinnacle of achievement for the outstanding talent in the country’s professional services consulting sector, especially at a time when these consultants are operating in a very complex environment.