Transcript of 'Myrtle rust: what you need to know to stop the spread' video
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[Video: Upbeat music plays throughout this video. Footage of a man closely inspecting a plant using a pocket magnifying glass.]
[Video: Footage of a tree with some of its leaves affected by myrtle rust. Footage shifts to Robert Beresford talking about myrtle rust. Text on the screen reads 'Robert Beresford, Plant Disease Epidemiologist, Plant and Food Research'.]
Robert: Myrtle rust is having a devastating impact on several species of our native plants, the swamp maire, lophomyrtus and pōhutukawa.
[Video: Footage of a large pōhutukawa tree with flowers and its branches swaying gently in the breeze. Footage cuts to show swamp maire trees along with ferns and other native plants. The words 'Swamp maire | Maire tawake' appear on the screen.]
Robert: The swamp maire is one in particular, which we are concerned about because the myrtle rust kills off all the new shoot growth every year.
[Video: Footage of Robert inspecting a swamp maire tree. Closeup footage shows him inspecting the tree using both his hands and this is followed by Maisie Hamilton Murray talking. Text on the screen reads 'Maisie Hamilton Murray, Ecologist, Pest Free Kaipātiki'.]
Maisie: The number one thing is to learn how to identify it and there's some really great resources online to do that.
[Video: Footage of a woman in a hat inspecting leaves on a tree. Footage shifts to show a plant with the background blurred. Footage cuts to show plants affected by myrtle rust with leaves covered in yellow spores. Footage cuts again to show Maisie talking.]
Maisie: You're looking for some giveaway symptoms of a yellow spore on the underside of the leaves. And then that will develop to other parts of the new growth of the plant.
[Video: Footage of Maisie talking.]
Maisie: You can then learn how to report it, which is really easy to do online.
[Video: Footage of a group of people on a walking track looking up at trees. Footage cuts to show Robert inspecting a plant for myrtle rust.]
Maisie: The other thing is to get involved with any local groups that you may have who are working on restoration. And you can help them to, you know, canvass your reserve and see if any of the native myrtles in the reserve have symptoms of myrtle rust.
[Video: Footage of Maisie talking.]
Maisie: And then you could take that next step of 'how do we protect it?'.
[Video: Footage of a plant affected by myrtle rust with some of its leaves covered in yellow spores.]
Robert: It's very difficult to control a pathogen like this - it spreads quickly.
[Video: Footage of a woman spraying fungicide on a swamp maire tree is followed by close-up footage of the fungicide spray being used. Footage cuts to Robert inspecting the leaves of a tree and then plucking leaves from the tree. Footage shifts to show the plucked leaves being dropped into a plastic storage bag with zipper.]
Robert: But there are some agricultural fungicides which are very effective against myrtle rust. One of the main things that we're doing is seed conservation. We're using the fungicides to actually protect some of the most vulnerable trees. We can collect seeds from those and then screen the seedlings for resistance to myrtle rust.
[Video: Footage of Robert talking.]
Robert: Because there's a lot of genetic variability, some of them are more susceptible than others.
[Video: Footage shows a hand holding a plant stem. Footage cuts to show a plastic fungicide container with a red lid hanging off the side of a person.]
Maisie: Fungicide is a really great option for treating myrtle rust.
[Video: Footage of Maisie talking.]
Maisie: However, it is really important that you take the right steps to use fungicide in a safe way.
[Video: Footage shows a woman putting on a chemical respirator kit or a gas mask for protection. Footage cuts to a closeup view of fungicide being sprayed on the leaves of a tree. Footage shifts to Maisie talking.]
Maisie: So that probably will require you doing Growsafe training and working with your local council to make sure that you've got landowner permission if you're working in a reserve.]
[Video: Footage of people walking across a wooden over bridge and the same group climbing down the steps of the bridge to a walking track. This is followed by footage of Kathy McCormack talking about volunteer work. Text on the screen reads 'Kathy McCormack, Bushglen Reserve Volunteer, Friends of Bushglen'.]
Kathy: We have been working in Bushglen Reserve for the last seven years and we have some very highly endangered swamp maire trees in there.
[Video: Footage of a woman in a grey cap pointing towards the top of a tree. Footage cuts to Kathy talking.]
Kathy: We found myrtle rust in there about three years ago and it's been a fight since then. We do appear to be winning the fight, we have got berries off some of the maire trees for the first time in three years. It's wonderful to see.]
[Video: Footage of Robert inspecting a tree for myrtle rust. Footage shifts to Maisie talking.]
Maisie: Another step that people can take in their own backyards is not planting non-native myrtle species.
[Video: Footage of bushland with tall native trees and plants. Footage cuts to a lilly pilly tree with closeup view of its leaves covered in yellow spores of myrtle rust. Footage shifts to Maisie talking. Footage cuts back to show the bushland with tall native trees and plants]
Maisie: One of the biggest offenders is lilly pilly, which people love to plant. It will spread a lot of myrtle rust to our native myrtles, so we strongly encourage people to remove them if they have the capacity to do so and then replace them with a beautiful native hedge.
[Video: Footage of Robert and a group of people on a wooden walking track. Footage cuts to Robert talking.]
[Robert: We're really looking to community groups now to pick up the knowledge that we've gained and to move forward with it and try and do what they can in their local environments to protect their vulnerable species.]
[Video: Footage of a woman spraying fungicide on a swamp maire tree. The words 'Slow the spread of myrtle rust' and 'myrtlerust.org.nz' appear on the screen. Footage shifts to show the words 'In partnership with Pest Free Kaipātiki and Plant & Food Research' appear on the screen. Footage ends with the Auckland Council pōhutukawa logo in the middle of the screen.]
[Video ends]
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