When Awanui farmer, Kevin Matthews, spotted an unusual plant in the sand dunes on Te Oneroa-a-Tōhe - Ninety Mile Beach, he knew he was looking at a highly invasive and toxic weed known as sea spurge.

Harmful to humans and animals, the Africa and Asia native is causing major environmental damage on the coasts of Western Australia and Tasmania and is starting to appear on New Zealand shores.

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In this video Ceres Sharp, Biosecurity Officer with Northland Regional Council explains why sea spurge (Euphorbia paralias) is a threat and why pulling it out of the ground is the last thing you should do when you find it on the beach or in the dunes.

A nation-wide programme to stop sea spurge spreading is being led by the Ministry for Primary Industries, partnered with regional councils and the Department of Conservation. If you find sea spurge, please call the Ministry for Primary Industries pest and diseases hotline on 0800 80 99 66 – and your local Northland Regional Council office – or please click on this link to report it, as soon as possible: Sea spurge - Pest control hub - Northland Regional Council (nrc.govt.nz)

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