Myrtle rust has been found on the Chatham Islands.

This disease impacts plants including iconic New Zealand species like pohutukawa.

In March, a member of the public brought a diseased plant  from the north end of the main island to the Department of Conservation - which has been confirmed as myrtle rust.

Beyond Myrtle Rust programme researcher Peter de Lange believes the discovery has a silver lining.

He says it's only been found on Chilean guava so far, a highly invasive weed, so could also end up behaving as a natural bio-control agent.

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