The second significant wetland area on fire this year has prompted concerns from conservationists around the protection of the last remnants of New Zealand’s natural wetlands
At first it seems like something of a contradiction of terms – a wetland on fire.
But the presence of peat, the accumulation of decayed plant matter, means some of these areas are loaded with enough fuel to keep a fire burning for months.
And with the wetlands of Awarua-Waituna in Southland ablaze since Saturday afternoon, it’s the second time this year that a significant piece of New Zealand’s diminishing cache of wetlands has been the site of a massive out-of-control blaze.
Around 30 firefighters and nine helicopters were at the site on Tuesday morning, where burning peat and wetlands difficult to access on foot having been obstructing the Fire and Emergency New Zealand response.
The fire is thought to have begun on the western edge of the wetlands, where the highway runs alongside Department of Conservation (DoC) land, although investigations are still underway.
It began just days after Southland District was moved into a prohibited fire season, prompted by extended dry weather conditions and higher than usual temperatures, with Niwa long-range weather forecasts predicting ongoing dry conditions.
Now with the fire stretching out over 1350 hectares with a perimeter of 26 kilometres, conservationists are calling on the Government to enshrine more robust protections for wetlands into law.
Conservation agency Forest & Bird wants the Government to adopt a national climate change adaptation plan that protects wetlands under the National Environmental Standards for Freshwater.
Forest & Bird freshwater advocate Tom Kay said with only 10 percent of New Zealand’s original wetlands left, it is important for them to have better protection so they can perform important roles in the natural system.
These include natural carbon sinks, water storage areas that can help prevent the extreme consequences of flooding and droughts, and habitats for a range of at-risk flora and fauna.
He said New Zealand has already destroyed 90 percent of its wetlands.
“The sad thing is we often don’t notice where they used to be,” he said, mentioning agricultural heartlands like Manawatū and Waikato, as well as cities like Christchurch. “Sometimes drains and pumping stations are the only remnants of wetlands in those areas.”
Colonial settlers drained many swamps and fens to create dry land for people and livestock to live on, and those remaining are under threat by pollution from farms in nearby water catchment areas, ongoing drainage by the horticultural industry, invasive species and fire risk.
The wetland fire follows a lengthy fire at Kaimaumau wetland at the opposite end of the country earlier this year.
That fire saw a refuge for 12 threatened species, 14 at-risk species and four regionally significant species burn for over a month, in what Forest & Bird Northland regional manager Dean Baigent-Mercer said had the potential to be a “localised extinction event”.
Down in the southern wetlands of Awarua-Waituna, 23 kilometres southeast from Invercargill as the crow flies, there are similar fears for the threatened plants and insects that can be found there, including sub-alpine species uniquely found at sea level.
The area is home to over 80 bird species, with Awarua Bay being home to more species of bird than any other place in Southland in most of the years the figure was recorded.
University of Otago emeritus professor and lauded environmentalist Sir Alan Mark said the area is one of the few remaining large wetlands helping to protect New Zealand against climate change, due to its major carbon storage.
“Wetland ecosystems offer unparalleled carbon storage, and the depth of peat in Awarua-Waituna is particularly substantial,” he said. “It is an extremely valuable ecosystem and has unique biodiversity. It is the only place in the country with an intriguing collection of alpine wetland plants near sea level.”
The permanently water-logged conditions of peatlands slow down plant decomposition, which in turn slows down the amount of time it takes for the plant’s carbon to be released back into the atmosphere. This means peat wetlands can act as useful carbon reservoirs, holding twice as much carbon as all of the world’s forests combined, despite only covering 3 percent of the earth’s surface.
Holding carbon back from the atmosphere could have the long-term effect of slowing down climate change, while the fact that wetlands can act as water reservoirs mean they can also mitigate the shorter-term effects such as more frequent or more volatile flooding.
The vegetation and soil of peatlands can hold a lot of water - potentially enough to reduce the chances of that water flooding onto roads or into towns.
Over two million hectares of wetland have disappeared from New Zealand, with Nelson having lost the greatest proportion (99.2 percent) and Southland having lost the largest total area (404,000 hectares). Estimates from the regional council suggest 10 percent of the wetlands lost in Southland happened since 2007.
Forest & Bird’s requests to the Government include doubling the amount of wetland by 2050, mapping the current extent of coastal wetlands, requiring land owners to account for drained wetlands in the Emissions Trading Scheme, ensuring existing regulations are strengthened rather than watered down and providing $100 million over the next five years for restoration.
But while these goals all focus on the medium to long-term future, Awarua-Waituna continues to burn, like Kaimaumau wetland before it.
Round-the-clock work from fire services has so far slowed the growth of the fire.
In an update on Tuesday afternoon, incident controller Mark Mawhinney said both the conditions and the work the crews have put in has meant they haven’t seen a significant increase in fire size.
“We’re not out of the woods yet, but it’s very encouraging,” he said.
While he seemed optimistic about the outcome of the fire service’s work, he spoke forthrightly about the difficult working conditions for the crew, calling it “brutal” work, “with unstable footing, the chance of falling into a wet peat bog, or equally the chance of falling into a hot ash pit, lots of burnt material you’ve got to push through ... so very tiring work.”
