The Department of Conservation's classification of kauri as a threatened species is one more reminder that not nearly enough is being done to investigate and stop this disease called dieback. That very name says how little is known about it. The word describes what it does, not what it is.
Its biological name, Phytophthora agathidicida, is not much more help. Phyotophthora means "plant destroyer" and agathidicida means "kauri killer". Various types of Phyotophthora are common in the world but this one is a new type and we know almost nothing about it.
Biologists are reasonably certain it is transmitted by soil, not wind or birds, and a lot of soil adheres to human footwear. So walking tracks in infected areas around Auckland have been closed for the time being. But that cannot be the solution.
If closing the Waitakere walks proves to contain the spread of the disease it will be good news. But the question would arise, what then? Is bush-walking forever to be banned in the Waitakeres, the infected areas of the Coromandel or Waipoua Forest where the disease has also appeared?
These magnificent trees are the crowning glory of our native forests. The ancient specimens in Waipoua have stood for hundreds of years, linking us to millions of years before human beings evolved on the planet, let alone migrated to this distant corner of the Pacific.
