A university lecturer says while researchers are working on ways to eradicate kauri dieback disease, the only thing that can be done is to try to stop its spread.
Kauri dieback has forced the Government to close the 40-hectare Albany Scenic Reserve in Auckland.
A lecturer in the school of biological sciences at Auckland University, Cate MacInnes-Ng, said the timing of the closure made sense.
"If we go into these areas during summertime, the soil is quite dry and it doesn't really stick onto boots very much, and so it's not moved around very much.
"People don't realise that, as it gets more sticky during the wetter periods, they need to be careful about cleaning all of that soil off their boots."
Ms MacInnes-Ng said researchers were getting promising results as they looked at ways of stopping the spread of the disease.
