Aerial Operation Underway Today – Friday 14 March

The latest general aerial operation to wipe out the painted apple moth will get underway soon after first light this morning (Friday 14 March).

Heavy rain and windy conditions have prevented the operation from being carried out earlier in the week. The operation will continue for as long as possible today, with the usual scheduled breaks at times when children are most likely to be travelling to and from school and eating their lunch. The programme controllers will be keeping a close eye on the wind which may become a factor later in the morning.

Last week, MAF announced an initial reduction to the painted apple moth eradication zone, following positive results from monitoring traps over a number of weeks. The current operation will cover this reduced general eradication zone and is likely to take more than one day to complete.

Additional reductions to the eradication zone are anticipated in the future, as consistent results from monitoring traps indicate that the risk of infestation in specific areas has been eliminated.

The public can call the free phone 0800 96 96 96 for general information about the programme. People can also listen to Newstalk ZB (1080 AM), 531 pi (531 AM), Chinese Radio (AM 990) and Radio Korea (1386 AM) for updates.

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