Land Clearing and Wilding Pine Control, Taupō

Working in Taupō and the Central Plateau

If there is one region where timing determines cost, it is this one. Wilding conifers are cheap to deal with while they are small and expensive once they are not, and the difference between calling at year three and year ten is enormous. Most of the work here is area-based rather than access-based, and it rewards a coordinated approach with neighbours, because clearing one block while an untreated seed source stands next door only buys you time.

The country here

Open pumice country, tussock, plantation forestry and lakeside margins, with steep faces where the land drops to the lake and the rivers. The ground is generally more open than the Bay of Plenty or Coromandel, which changes the job: it is about covering area efficiently rather than squeezing into a tight gully.

What dominates in Taupō and the Central Plateau

• Wilding conifers, overwhelmingly the dominant issue, contorta in particular
• Broom, on stony and retired ground
• Gorse, on roadsides and disturbed country
• Forestry undergrowth and regrowth between rotations

Councils and compliance

Waikato Regional Council and Taupō District Council

Wilding conifer control here sits inside a much larger national and regional effort, and a lot of the work is coordinated across neighbouring landowners rather than done property by property. Forestry sites bring their own health and safety requirements, which our prequalifications cover.