Seeds a plenty – working in partnership to tackle wild kiwifruit
Toi Moana Bay of Plenty Regional Council
Thriving together - mō te taiao, mō ngā tāngata
In 2022/23 the kiwifruit industry contributed $1.82 billion to the regional economy and created over 23,000 jobs in the Bay of Plenty*. Unfortunately, along with this golden opportunity comes an unwanted side effect, wild kiwifruit.
Wild kiwifruit has been recognised as a pest in the Bay of Plenty since the late 1990s, with infestations typically found near kiwifruit orchards or areas where ‘reject’ kiwifruit had been fed to livestock. The majority of the seeds are then spread by birds feasting on the left-over fruit. Wild kiwifruit vines rapidly form a dense, heavy blanket of growth that smothers and eventually kills or topples trees and shrubs beneath it, posing a significant threat to native forest, biodiversity and forestry.
Toi Moana Bay of Plenty Regional Council has responsibilities and powers under the Biosecurity Act 1993, including monitoring and eradicating pests through our Regional Pest Management Plan. Wild kiwifruit is classified as a ‘progressive containment pest’ under this plan. The Progressive Containment programme covers pests that are established enough that eradication is not feasible, but where it's possible to prevent it from spreading to other parts of the region, to reduce the distribution within the region, or to eradicate the pest from parts of the region.
Kiwifruit Vine Health (KVH) is the biosecurity organisation dedicated to supporting the New Zealand kiwifruit industry. Established in December 2010 to lead the industry response to the Psa incursion, KVH and the Regional Council have collaborated since 2013 to manage wild kiwifruit in the Bay of Plenty. In November 2020, we signed a 10-year Collaboration Agreement to continue this partnership, ensuring cost-effective wild kiwifruit management and to minimise its impact in the region. KVH and the Regional Council share surveillance costs while KVH manages contractors for wild kiwifruit control, including specially trained abseilers who work in difficult to reach and often in remote locations.
A cutting-edge joint project between KVH, Zespri International and the Regional Council is currently underway using satellite imagery to detect wild kiwifruit in Te Puke. Satellite images were collected in June 2023 and March 2024 to capture different seasonal conditions, followed by ground-truthing to train a predictive AI model. Initial results show the model is overly sensitive, producing many false positives, and is not yet practical for use.
The collaboration between KVH, Zespri and ourselves is an example of an effective industry and regional government partnership in managing biosecurity. The working relationship is strong, with regular meetings to discuss surveillance, control work, and future planning.
Chris McKay , Bay of Plenty Regional Council Biosecurity Officer, says the kiwifruit industry is committed to sustainability. It is are taking steps to reduce its environmental impact across the supply chain, including wild kiwifruit. As the industry is set to expand over the next few years, having plans in place to address wild kiwifruit is hugely important for our region.
Both the Regional Council and KVH are founding partners of Tauranga Moana Biosecurity Capital (TMBC), who are a network of passionate biosecurity champions working to protect the cultural, spiritual, and economic lifeblood of our region - our waters, mountains, forests and wildlife.
Wild kiwifruit is a landowner’s responsibility to control. If you see wild kiwifruit on public land, you can report it to us here:
Find out how to control it on your property:
* Source: NZKGI Regional Contributions Flyer BOP. 2024.
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3 个月Insightful!