In the face of cuts to the national programme, the council voted yesterday to ask the government to extend its investment in wilding pine control, rather than proceed with the status quo and risk losing the $137million invested nationally in control efforts since 2016.
Discussing the results of a Boffa Miskell cost-benefit analysis of investment in wilding conifer control in Otago, Cr Robertson said the results were clear.
Continued investment was a "no-brainer" as pest pines represented a "biological timebomb".
"We are the most vulnerable region in New Zealand by a long shot.
"We have excellent work programmes in place.
We are capable of doing this work, really capable.
"We pulled together a huge collaboration of people from diverse backgrounds to work in this area and that takes a huge amount of effort; we don’t want to lose that momentum.
"And it’s not a ‘forever investment’, it is intended to hand it back to the landowners in a state that they can reasonably control."
At the start of this year, the council learned last year’s national budget of $22.5m was to be slashed to $10m a year.
And though, last month, the Ministry for Primary Industries announced the national wilding pine control budget for 2023-24 would be increased by $7m, a staff report to yesterday’s environmental implementation committee said "without continued investment and intervention, achieving long term sustainable wilding conifer outcomes for the region is not attainable".
"Wilding conifers will re-invade cleared areas and continue to spread across vulnerable parts of Otago."
The report said under the status quo, wilding pine control work would only continue at Dunstan, Kawarau, Lammermoor and the Remarkables.
If "minimum" additional government funding was attained, work would continue to control 89.4% of the known pine infestation.
Under this scenario wilding pine control work would also take place in Alexandra, Dunedin, Glenorchy, Luggate, Naseby, Northern Eyre, Rough Ridge, Shotover, Waitaki and Wakatipu.
At the next level of investment, which would control 99.9% of the known infestation — and which councillors yesterday called for — work would extend to five other areas
: Clutha, East Otago, Ernslaw, Wanaka and West Otago.
Under this scenario for every $1 invested, there would be a $93 benefit, the report said.
Cr Michael Laws cautioned his colleagues about the potential implications of their decision.
He said it was unsurprising the last lot of funding, provided through Jobs for Nature, had fallen over.
"The only issue now for the Otago Regional Council to consider ... is are you going to step into the gap.
"The government is walking away; it will keep on walking away.
"For us to think that there will be more money in the 2024-25 budget when the indication has been severe and significant cessation of government spending ... is slightly chaotic.
"We all know that this is critical to us and critical to Otago.
"I think we need to have a much more honest conversation around this table about how much money we are going to put in our budget, that’s the issue for us to consider."
He added the council should not be advocating for increased funding for wilding pines collectively with other councils, so as to be left "scrapping" with other regions for its share
"We’ve done the research, we’ve got the problem and we are in the greatest danger, and we need to be independently speaking to those who make those decisions."
