Auckland Council wants to keep Auckland's Waitakere Ranges open to the public, despite calls to close them because of kauri dieback.

A conservationist says the situation is dire, with few people bothering to wash their boots and some even choosing to vandalise cleaning equipment.



Nick Beveridge, the Auckland/Northland manager at Forest and Bird, has spent years on the bush tracks of Titirangi, trying to spread the word to walkers about cleaning their boots.

"A lot of people don't bother to stop, to wash [and] spray their shoes," he told Newshub.

During that time, the plight of the iconic kauri has only got worse. In some places, about 80 percent of people are ignoring the rules.

"I've been working along these tracks for about six years now and, say if you got 20 people going through, you might get five who spray their footwear," Mr Beveridge said.

"The rest are just not interested.

"It is a lot to do with people's apathy and ignorance."

But just a pinhead of infected soil is enough to spread the disease. Kauri dieback eats into the roots of the tree, stripping the canopy and causing bark to waste away.

Mr Beveridge says the distrust of spray stations has even ended up with vandalism.

"In the past, we've had quite a bit of vandalism - people puncturing spray bottles, emptying them out or stealing them."

Auckland Council says the spread of kauri dieback has more than doubled, from five percent eight years ago to 19 percent of kauri being infected now.

Local iwi have announced a rāhui from tomorrow, asking visitors to stay out.

But the Council's unwilling to go that far and instead wants people to think about doing that themselves.

"We would love people to think about, 'How about we find another regional park to walk at'," Penny Hulse, Auckland Council's environment and community committee chair, said.

The local iwi says that's frustrating and disappointing.

"The issues are such that it's at an ecological tipping point, where if we don't act now, we are going to lose it," Edward Ashby, executive manager of Te Kawerau iwi, told Newshub.

Locals told Newshub they'd respect the iwi's restrictions.

"Being a local, I really love the surrounding area so I'm quite upset about that... but we'll just enjoy it while we can," resident Anoke Grosnann said.

The Council will vote on the issue next week, but the preferred option is targeted closures of high-risk areas, rather than shutting down the whole park.

Newshub.