Associate Conservation Minister Nicky Wagner today announced the Kauri 2000 Trust will received $57,000 to help prevent the spread of Kauri Dieback disease on the Coromandel Peninsula.

The grant from the Department of Conservation's Community Conservation Partnership Fund comes as anew Coromandel Kauri Dieback Forum is hosting four meetings in four different locations on the Coromandel on August 30-31.

Trees with kauri dieback near Whitianga.

Inaugural meetings of the forum will take place in Whangamata and Thames on Saturday, August 30, while Coromandel town and Whitianga will host the forum on Sunday, August 31.

The forum is established to enable locals to take action in their communities to combat kauri dieback disease and foster the health of kauri throughout the Coromandel.

Nicky says the trust is spearheading efforts to establish and maintain a community-based action network to help prevent the spread of kauri dieback 'by raising levels of awareness, and encouraging practical changes in behaviour to reduce the risk to Kauri in the Coromandel”.

'This project involves working closely with the national Kauri Dieback Management Programme and will also bring together the resources and knowledge of key local interest groups,” says Nicky.

The Kauri 2000 Trust reached a huge milestone earlier his month, announcing it had planted 40,000 kauri trees since 2000.

Nicky says this milestone was marked today alongside the funding announcement.

'Without the trust and its approach to reducing the impact of Kauri Dieback on the Coromandel Peninsula, we could well see more giants of the forest succumb to this disease.”