Landcorp has suspended plans to plant a further 300ha of Douglas fir trees, but critics say a 189ha area already planted will spread wilding trees into the nearby Te Papanui Conservation Park.
Otago conservationist Prof Alan Mark has raised the wilding tree issue in a letter to State-owned Enterprises Minister Tony Ryall and in a brief presentation to a recent Otago Conservation Board meeting.
He remains "frustrated" over the issue and takes little comfort from Landcorp's move to halt further plantings in the area on the Lammerlaw Range, northwest of Lake Mahinerangi.
It had been "naive" to plant the trees there, given wilding trees problems had become a "national" environmental issue, and $12 million was being spent removing trees from Mid Dome, in Northern Southland, he said yesterday.
He has advised Landcorp volunteers were available to remove the recently planted trees.
Landcorp officials said specialised advice indicated the buffer zone around the 189ha of Douglas fir planted on part of Waipori Station would be effective at preventing tree spread.
Landcorp said it faced a $13 million bill under climate change rules unless it planted 17,000ha of carbon forest nationally.
Otago Conservation Board chairwoman Associate Prof Abigail Smith said it was "ridiculous" that one state-owned body planted trees relatively close to areas which another Government institution, Doc, had a duty to protect against wilding trees.
The Conservation Board will write to the Landcorp board and the Minister of Conservation to highlight concerns wilding trees will spread into the conservation park and the nearby Stoney Creek Scenic Reserve.
Associate Prof Smith said a 250m-wide buffer zone beside the park would not prevent wilding trees from spreading, given the long distances seeds travelled on the wind.
The area's "fantastic" unspoiled views should be protected in the public interest, she said.
