The GreenplanetFM Podcast with Tim Lynch

To have our venerable forest giant die before us is making us realise that even far from all other countries on our planet - that we too can be affected by something that is microscopic and beneath our feet that can destroy a living treasure that can live to 2,000 years of age. It’s called Kauri dieback. Kauri dieback is the deadly kauri disease caused by Phytophthora taxon Agathis. Following DNA studies, this fungus-like disease was formally identified in 2008 as a distinct and previously undescribed species of Phytophthora. Kauri dieback is specific to New Zealand kauri and can kill trees of all ages. Microscopic spores in the soil infect kauri roots and damage the tissues that carry nutrients within the tree. Infected trees show a range of symptoms including yellowing of foliage, loss of leaves, canopy thinning, dead branches and lesions that bleed gum at the base of the trunk. Nearly all infected kauri die. In the past 10 years, kauri dieback has killed thousands of kauri in New Zealand. Kauri is NZ’s can