Here’s a first draft… Bear in mind that:
• A Total Control pest plant means that the council do the control work, at their own cost, on public or private land.
• Containment means there is a statutory requirement to remove a pest plant from a property, either remove it totally, (removal) or remove it to a certain distance from your boundary (boundary control).
• Surveillance plants are banned from sale, distribution and propagation though there is no requirement for removal (though some work is done by council in certain sites, and removal by landowners is encouraged).
• Community initiative is a programme that allows a group of landowners/occupiers to control a species (plant or animal) on a collaborative basis. Community initiatives can be site-led or species-led and they can also ask the council to undertake enforcement action on landowners/occupiers who do not control the relevant pest. However, there are a few criteria to meet before that would happen.
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We endorse Auckland Council’s strategy in minimising harm to (amongst others) species diversity, recreation and Maori culture as well as primary production. Our suggestions would strengthen this strategy and while helping our butterfly and moth populations would certainly not be detrimental to Council’s strategies.
Auckland Council’s Role
We believe Auckland Council’s role in pest management should be primarily education, and secondly enforcement of the regulations.
Pest plant species
Buddleia – Buddleja davidii – currently Surveillance, and
Lantana – Lantana camara – Total control (rural areas) and Surveillance elsewhere
We would suggest that the classification for Buddleia and Lantana have “Community Initiative” added so that people can be free to plant these. Both plants are excellent nectar sources for butterflies, bees and birds, and have not proven to be weedy in the Auckland region.
There are many cultivars and other varieties of Buddleia available as well which have never been an issue in any part of New Zealand. However, at present it is illegal to plant them.
Gorse – Ulex spp. – Containment (boundary control) in rural areas and Surveillance elsewhere and Community Initiative – we suggest that no change be made.
Gorse is one of the host plants for the long-tailed blue (Lampides boeticus) and it is important that where gorse is growing and is not a problem, it should be retained. Gorse is excellent at enriching soils through its nitrogen-fixing availability and provides a nursery for other plants.
Perennial nettle – Urtica dioica – Surveillance – change to Community Initiative
Stinging nettle is one of the host plants for our admiral butterflies, yellow and red (Vanessa gonerilla and V. itea) and does not appear to be a pest plant in the Auckland region.
Over the last forty years the writer has seen a huge reduction in the number of overwintering sites for monarch butterflies due to the removal of pine trees which the adult butterflies use as overwintering roosts. As well, Butterfly Bay, one of their biggest overwintering sites in Northland has been altered forever with the removal of the ‘pest plant’ Lantana. With the lack of this important nectar species monarchs no longer overwinter at Butterfly Bay. Where the writer had seen hundreds of monarchs at Butterfly Bay in 1984, entomologist Peter Maddison surveying the site in August 2006 found only five butterflies.
We therefore suggest that where education material is produced for stakeholders encouraging the removal of certain plants, other nectar-producing plants for butterflies and moths be suggested as alternatives. Frequently the plants that are available commercially for gardens are devoid of nectar, and this is detrimental to our insect species.
Pest animal species
Social wasps, i.e. Polistes spp. and Vespula spp.
Stronger controls and more education must be undertaken by Auckland Council to encourage ratepayers to be aware of wasp nests and encourage their removal. Social wasps are a pest to humans and pets, often restricting recreational activities, and they are also proving to be devastating to our moths and butterflies.
Paper wasps accounted for most stings received by Auckland people in a 1992/93 survey. (Dymock JJ, Forgie SA, Ameratunga R 1994. NZ Medical Journal 107: 32–33) Four anaphylactic deaths attributed to bees/wasps in Auckland 1985-2005. (Low I, Stables S 2006. Pathology 38: 328–332.)
Auckland Council needs to be aware of any products that are commercially available to control these species, such as Vespex, and also be more proactive in educating its ratepayers and residents as to how to successfully reduce numbers of wasps. For example, we are surprised at how few people are aware of the difference between bees and wasps.
The future of pest control
We would like to see pest plant species managed without the need for herbicides or pesticides. At present we understand that Roundup (glyphosate) is being used to maintain roadside berms but this produce has been identified by the World Health Organisation as a Class 2A probable human carcinogen, with many countries banning the product. Aucklanders deserve a beautiful city free from toxic cancer-causing chemicals and a safe and healthy environment.
Auckland is changing with the many people from overseas settling here, many of them from densely populated urban areas such as Hong Kong, Manila and Mumbai. These people are not aware of our flora and fauna let alone pest animal and plant species.
In 1991, a little more than 5 percent of Aucklanders were Asian. In 2006, the figure was 19 percent, and by 2021, it is likely to be around 27-28 percent of the city’s population (about 450,000 people) – six times the 1991 population. It has been – and will be – an extraordinary level of growth. Asian communities are easily the city’s fastest-growing. Unlike the Pasifika communities, which are now two-thirds New Zealand-born, Asian communities will remain predominantly immigrant for some time yet.
Asia New Zealand Foundation Bulletin
Auckland Council’s education process needs to be widened to ensure that the material is not just offered in various languages but an in-depth awareness of the very basics about our natural environment is covered. Immigrants need to know what makes Auckland the special place that it is.
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