Land Management
Wilding conifers affect the bottom line for land owners and managers. Find out how to reduce the risk and impacts of wilding spread on your own and surrounding land.
Owners of land with any spread-prone exotic conifers, whether planted or self-seeded, have a role in preventing and managing wilding spread. That includes forests large and small, carbon plantations, historic amenity plantings, woodlots and high country shelterbelts, as well as land with wildings already present.
See which conifer species cause problems in the Wilding Conifer Quick ID Guide (this is a national guide - some species may be valuable in one region but a problem in another).
The difference between managed plantations and wilding spread can be hard to spot. The table describes some of the less obvious differences.
It’s a common misconception that today’s forestry industry is to blame for most of New Zealand’s wilding conifer problem. In fact, most wilding infestations in New Zealand today starting many decades ago and from a range of original sources. We now have multiple generations of uncontrolled wildings continuing to reseed themselves.
It's easy to see the difference between a planted forest and a wilding infestation when trees are young, and especially looking from above. As the trees get bigger, it can be harder to see the difference, but here's what to look for:
Watching trees grow |
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Plantation forestry |
Wilding infestation |
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Plantation forestry generally has between 600 to 1,100 stems per hectare - light, air and water can reach in. |
A dense wilding conifer stand can have 6,000 - 10,000 stems per hectare - nothing else will grow there. |
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Newly planted plantation trees or woodlots will typically be planted in neat rows with even spacing, into prepared ground, and within a distinct boundary. |
Young wildings will appear as scattered trees within another landscape amongst other types of vegetation, and across property boundaries. |
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As they grow, plantation trees will look like equal age and size because they were planted together. |
After a few years, wildings will appear in varying age and size from multiple years of seeding on the same area. Wildings invade other landscapes, e.g. tall conifers standing out above native bush canopy. |
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Plantation trees will often be pruned so that most of the growth is upwards with branches mostly in the top third. |
Wildings typically have branches the full height of the trunk. |
What to look for aside from trees: |
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Planted forestry: Signs of planning and infrastructure
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Wilding spread: Random and without boundaries
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