City Firewood helping climate change in the Mackenzie Basin

Ōtautahi - A leading New Zealand firewood company, City Firewood in Christchurch, has for five years, helped significantly reduce the spread of wilding pines in the Mackenzie District.

It has enabled the removal of thousands of tonnes of invasive wilding trees which are rapidly spreading and killing native ecosystems.

The issue occurs through their fast spread and growth, which over a short period of time can completely overshadow native bush killing both the plants and the native fauna who survive off them.

City Firewood, Christchurch’s biggest firewood company, is able to continue this work which makes the logging of some areas viable where it wouldn’t otherwise be possible.

This, alongside their native tree planting through donations from firewood proceeds to Trees that Count, is a step all made possible through purchases of their medium mix firewood which is made largely from the MacKenzie wilding pines.

The efforts are having a great positive impact on the New Zealand environment and climate change efforts. The Mackenzie Basin remains ground zero for the battle against the spread of wilding pines.

Environment Canterbury (ECan) is confident it can solve the problem. Since receiving its first tranche of  $16 million of wilding control from the Ministry for Primary Industries in 2016, ECan has been clearing wilding pines, which covers more than one million hectares.

Wilding pines not only ruin the Mackenzie Basin landscape, but they are a huge fire risk, which is a worry for the environment and climate change.

One of the biggest benefits of removing wilding pines is reducing the  fire hazard.  As the impacts of climate change intensify the Mackenzie Basin is set to become even hotter and drier than it already is, with wildfire events likely to become much more common.

Another significant benefit of removing wilding pines is increased availability of ground water. Many landowners beyond the boundary of the town water supply are reliant on bore water for day-to-day use.

Wilding pine infestations soak up a large portion of ground water leaving less available to maintain healthy underground aquifer levels, meaning that over time if wilding pine infestations are left to mature existing bores may run dry and river levels may drop significantly.

It should also be noted that wilding pines don’t just affect the properties they are growing on. Their seeds are very lightweight and can be blown downwind for up to 40km, potentially affecting every piece of land along the way.