A total of 409 hours of clearing work was carried out over three weeks in November.
It was the Upper Clutha Wilding Tree Group’s first major wilding pine control operation funded by the landowner, the Otago Regional Council and the Queenstown Lakes District Council, a statement from the regional council on Friday said.
"As a landowner I could not afford to achieve control on this scale.
"It is hugely satisfying to be part of the collaboration of public/private funding to clear Stevenson’s Peninsula of wilding pines in one operation," Mr Burdon said.
Staff from Central Wilding Tree Control and Landcare Services, Aspiring Helicopters and Wanaka Water Taxi were involved in the project.
Ground crews used chainsaws to fell the coning trees on sometimes very challenging terrain.
Where wilding pines were sparse, ground crews were dropped in and out by helicopter.
The pines took root on the peninsula through wind-spread seeds from other, inappropriately located pine plantations or existing wildings.
While pine plantings were done with the best of intentions in the past, they spread easily in the Upper Clutha’s windy, dry local climate, regional council project delivery specialist Gavin Udy said.
If left uncontrolled, the peninsula would become cloaked in an exotic pine forest.
It was in "everyone’s interest" to protect outstanding landscapes and natural biodiversity, Mr Udy said.
— APL
