Native creatures and habitats across Tongariro National Park have been disrupted by a massive 3,000 hectare blaze.
The Department of Conservation says its staff will assess the site when safe to do so, to understand the scale of the damage.
The SMC asked experts to comment.
Katerina Pihera-Ridge, Indigenous planner and Indigenous flammability co-lead, Bioeconomy Science Institute, comments:
“For Māori, our relationship with Te Taiao – our environment and place, is inherent and enduring. However, that connection is challenged by land use changes, introduced species, climate shifts, and restrictions on kaitiaki practices – all of which have combined to increase wildfire risk.
“In Aotearoa, current wildfire preparedness does not match the growing risk. We know the whakapapa of fire, forest, and whenua, and that knowledge matters now more than ever. No one wants to watch their taonga burn and stories be lost.
“Globally, fire-prone regions are turning to Indigenous practitioners for cultural fire approaches to land management and ecosystem restoration. Reconnecting with cultural fire practices is relevant today, and Iwi leadership and partnerships with other Indigenous peoples, sciences and agencies – promote new methods and solutions.
“Wildfire planning and resilience is not just ‘nice to have’ – it is a real opportunity for a frontline strategy in wildfire preparedness and local solutions.”
No conflict of interest.
Dr Nicola Day, Senior Lecturer, Fire Ecologist, School of Biological Sciences, Victoria University of Wellington, comments:
“Tongariro National Park has a range of native species that are already facing decline, and increased fire activity with climate change presents a further risk to native biodiversity. The alpine area is covered with native grasses and shrubs that provide important habitat for native reptiles, birds, and invertebrates. The pictures and reports suggest that tussock grassland and woody shrubs are what are burning, and it looks similar to what the Lake Ōhau area looked like after the 2020 fire.
“Our research from other native alpine and subalpine areas that have burned, like Pukaki and Ōhau, suggest that recovery of vegetation is quite quick. Woody species take longer to recover. Surprisingly, we’ve found that many of our native species in tussock grasslands can survive fires, but so can many exotic species. We do tend to see an increase in non-native grasses like browntop for a period of time after fire, and this can persist for decades.
“The funny thing about fires is that the vegetation that comes back after a fire is typically quite flammable. So, with drier and warmer conditions combined with more flammable plants after fires, this could lead to more frequent fire events and that could have massive impacts on native plants and animals. With more fires, our landscapes might look quite different in the future.
“Fires are going to become more common in NZ and even though a lot of our plants can bounce back quickly, more fires will cause changes to our landscapes.”
Conflict of interest statement: “I currently receive funding from the Department of Conservation and Bioprotection Aotearoa.”
Associate Professor Julie Deslippe, Plant Ecologist, Victoria University of Wellington, comments:
“The 2,800-hectare wildfire in Tongariro National Park, a UNESCO natural and cultural World Heritage Site, has profound implications for the conservation of our native flora. The fire swept through extensive subalpine and alpine shrubland and tussock grassland communities, strongholds for rare and regionally endemic species of deep ecological and cultural significance. Native shrubs such monoao (Dracophyllum spp.), the alpine shrub daisies (Celmesia spp.) and important rongoā plants like piripiri (Acaena emittens) are heavily affected. Microhabitats hosting specialist species are at particular risk; the loss of even a single population can be devastating for species like the recently described, nationally critical Cardamine
panatohea, known from only two alpine flush sites in the park.
“Fire has always shaped the flora and fauna of this volcanic landscape, but the combined pressures of climate change, invasive weeds, and conversion of surrounding lands to pasture and forestry now threaten irreversible degradation. When fire exposes bare ground, introduced exotics like heather, gorse, broom, and pines, with vast seed banks and fire-stimulated germination rapidly colonise, outcompeting native species that are slower to recruit.
“On Monday, Ngāti Hikairo kaumātua Ngaehe Wanikau spoke movingly on TVNZ of the ecological and emotional toll of these legacies. The iwi-supported ten-year rāhui on commercial activity provides time for the whenua to heal and for restoration to begin. Yet there is an urgent need for research on seed ecology and the propagation of native species to guide effective recovery. Equally vital is a dedicated budget for
iwi-led restoration, enabling coordinated revegetation and sustained weed management to secure the long-term resilience of our national treasure.”
No conflicts of interest.
Professor George Perry, Fire Ecologist, School of Environment, University of Auckland, comments:
“Around the world, large wildfires are becoming more frequent and more intense as climate and land-use changes. Recent events in the Port Hills, Lake Tekapo, and Tongariro show us that the landscapes of Aotearoa-New Zealand are also becoming more vulnerable to fire. Climate models suggest that extreme fire weather (hot, dry, and windy) that facilitate fire spread will likely become more frequent by the end of this century.
“Before humans arrived, fire was rare in Aotearoa, and most of our native plants do not have the kinds of fire-adaptations seen where fire is more frequent. As a result, sensitive vegetation, such as the sub-alpine shrublands of Tongariro, may be very slow to recover from fire. By contrast, some introduced species, such as gorse, are highly flammable and potentially favoured in post-fire environments. The vegetation, such as mānuka shrublands, that often dominates in the two or three decades after fire can also burn easily. Thus, there is a risk of “fire traps”, where fire-begets-fire, slowing or even stopping forests from recovering and locking the landscape into a cycle of burning.
“These changes raise urgent questions:
- How will our ecosystems cope with more frequent fires?
- Could native forests become trapped in cycles of burning?
- What are the direct and indirect social and economic costs associated with shifting patterns of fire activity?
“The nearly 3000 ha Tongariro fire shows us that these challenges are no longer confined to fire-prone regions like California or southeastern Australia. Aotearoa must prepare for life in a hotter, more fire-prone world.”
Conflict of interest statement: “No conflicts of interest. I am working on various fire projects that DoC have funded.”
Dr Janet Wilmshurst, Ecosystem Resilience research team, Bioeconomy Science Institute, comments:
“Tongariro is a UNESCO World Heritage Park with a dual mandate to preserve highly significant natural and cultural features, attracting vast visitor numbers. Before Māori arrival, Tongariro National Park was largely covered in dense forest and natural fires were infrequent. Māori-era fires cleared forest from the northern and eastern slopes of the volcanoes creating a landscape of inaka, mānuka, kānuka and totatoa scrub and tussock grasslands. Early European sheep farmers later maintained the tussock cover through frequent fires. They also introduced fire-adapted weeds including rapidly spreading broom, gorse and heather which have been replacing the tussock. In addition, wilding pines from adjacent plantations are threatening to turn vast areas into dense pine forest.
“The volatile oil-packed foliage of the native scrub and woody weed species, and their fine twiggy growth, provides ideal fuel for hot, destructive fires. However, ignitions have been relatively rare since grazing ceased in the park, but the combination of flammability traits, fire-adapted weed spread, and climate change along with increasing visitor numbers and infrastructure has now increased the risk of ignitions and large hot fires. This volatile mix has made the management of fire-prone ecosystems throughout New Zealand increasingly difficult and expensive. It also calls for an integrated management approach that protects ecologically and culturally sensitive fire-prone areas, infrastructure and our tourism economy.
“Weed control, educating visitors about fire risk, banning open fires and replacing fireplaces in huts with gas heating, and even closing the park at times of heightened risk (for example during prolonged drought) might be some options. More radical options might include long-term restorative rāhui to the most sensitive ecological and cultural areas, allowing them the centuries they need to return to a weed-supressing forest of podocarps, beech and broadleaves that will finally release these ecosystems out of a weedy fire-trap where fire begets fire.”
Note: This expert comment was prepared by Janet Wilmshurst, with Peter Bellingham, Matt McGlone and Sarah Richardson, of the Bioeconomy Science Institute (Manaaki Whenua – Landcare Research Group) Ecosystems Resilience research team. The Bioeconomy Science Institute undertakes research on the ecological effects of fires, including fire-adapted ecosystems.
No conflict of interest declared.
Shana Gross, Fire Ecologist, Bioeconomy Science Institute, comments:
“Each wildfire is a unique event due to the combination of the fire environment (topography, fuels (in this case vegetation), and weather). These drive the fire behaviour. Therefore, every wildfire provides a learning opportunity to improve our understanding of fire behaviour and recovery (both ecological and social). These lessons help us better prepare for future events, ideally reducing future impact.
“Key ecological questions following a fire are around recovery – what species survive and what regenerates. Unfortunately weeds often follow fires and can change the future disturbance regime, sometimes favouring future fires. While weeds can invade following a fire, the success of different species will be dependent on the distance to seed source, how hot the fire burned, and what is left behind.
“Wildfires rarely burn everything – even high severity fires will often have unburned or moderately burned islands of vegetation. These islands of vegetation remain for a variety of reasons – tied to fuel availability (i.e. some plant species may have held more moisture or in general be harder to burn) and shifts in weather. These islands also offer seed sources for regeneration – ideally of native species, but in some cases weedy species.
“The foundation question that we would investigate following a wildfire would be around fire behaviour – how the fire burnt through different fuels under the weather conditions. This background information can provide critical data points for fuel models that underly fire simulation models, as well as provide the foundation for understanding recovery. Recovery following a fire will look different depending on the species present before and after, and the magnitude of the disturbance. When you lose the fire effects information you lose a piece of the puzzle to understand future recovery from other fire events. Unfortunately, this information needs to be captured quickly either during the fire and/or following the fire before major rain events wash away indicators.”
No conflict of interest declared.