Category: News

  • Fire-Smart Restoration webinar

    Fire-Smart Restoration webinar

    Planting Fire-Smart Landscapes

    Wildfire risk is an increasing concern in New Zealand, and with hotter, drier summers becoming more frequent, understanding how to reduce vulnerability is more important than ever. A recent webinar brought together experts Dr. Tim Curran from Lincoln University and Steve Trigg, FENZ, to share the latest insights into fire-smart restoration and practical ways communities can prepare.

    Research into Plant Flammability

    One of the key themes explored was plant flammability. Research has shown that the types of plants we choose for landscaping and restoration can make a real difference in slowing the spread of fire. Dr. Curran discussed ongoing testing to identify species with lower flammability, which can be incorporated into fire-smart planting plans.

    Strategies for Safer Communities

    The webinar also introduced a range of fire mitigation strategies, including:

    Low-flammability plantings to reduce the speed and intensity of fire.

    Green fire breaks that act as buffers between natural areas and homes.

    Defensible space – creating safer zones around houses to protect people and property.

    Watch the full 50min webinar.

  • Profiling our working group: Julie Buunk

    Profiling our working group: Julie Buunk

    Next up in our team spotlight is Julie Buunk. Julie was the first to join our working group!


    What inspired you to become involved in the Wairau Nature Network?

    As a keen tramper and ex-DOC field worker I’m drawn to natural places. I live on our family farm in the Fairhall area. My father started planting small areas of the farm in native trees and shrubs around the year 2000, these plants are now of a decent size. This got me thinking if one person working alone can produce such inspiring results then what would happen if people worked together across the district?

    What’s the biggest environmental challenge you think the Wairau catchment faces right now?

    The lack of indigenous biodiversity, the Wairau Catchment (in particular the lowland areas) is a highly modified productive landscape, in most cases spare spaces such as riparian strips are largely dominated by woody weeds and other invasive exotic species.

    Can you share a project or achievement from the Network that you are most proud of?

    I am very excited about the progress of the Wairau Nature Networks mapping program. When completed, this will allow members of the public to easily see where there is existing native vegetation, and how best to connect these areas with new plantings.

    How do you see the role of community partnerships in restoring and protecting local ecosystems?

    Vegetation restoration is hard work; the planting is really the easy part. By sharing the workload, not only can we achieve more, but it also creates a personal connection to the project. By neighbouring properties collaborating, communities sharing knowledge and even resources, we can effectively work together and start to connect native areas to form corridors or stepping stones across the landscape.

    What makes the Wairau area so special to you?

    I’m from two local farming families, born and raised on the plains. Within the generation before mine, any remaining native species were removed from the family farm. How amazing it would be to have these remnants still and protect them!

    The peaks, ranges and side tributaries of the catchment are my tramping playground. An annual walk-in camping trip to a clearing beside a pristine river in the Richmond Ranges has become a tradition for my children to share with family friends.

  • Microforest & Biochar workshop, May 2025

    Microforest & Biochar workshop, May 2025

    38 people attended a Microforest and Biochar forest, with guest speaker Asita Langi from Nelson Whakatu Microforest Initiative.

    What is a microforest? Often no bigger than a tennis court, microforests are small, multi-layered planted forests that serve as carbon stores and biodiversity stepping stones. Because they are small they are ideal for schools, businesses, industrial areas and unproductive rural land.

    While small, microforests are planted with more species than traditional restoration sites, and incorporate the layers of the forest. This is called the Miyawaki Technique, after the Japanese ecologist who designed the methodology.

    “For a natural plant community (society), the best situation is where the plants compete with each other and have to put up with each other. Our method of planting trees followed the law of the forest, and seedlings whose roots had filled the pot were planted, different species mixed together. In a natural forest, between 30 and 50 seedlings sprout per square meter. There are some places in Borneo where there are between 500 and nearly 1,000 seedlings per square meter [sic].“ – Akira Miyawa

    Asita also discussed how biochar was incorporated into the Nelson Whakatu Microforest and significantly improved soil water and nutrient retention. The photos of the four-year-old growth impressed even the most hardened critic in the room!