10 Feb 2020

One Billion Tree fire risk warning

From Nine To Noon, 9:09 am on 10 February 2020
Joseph Johnson: A fire front around behind a Westmorland home stemming from the huge fire on the Port Hills.

Photo: The Press / Fairfax

A warning that New Zealand's ambitious one billion trees programme could be at risk from wildfires, unless our landscapes are better fire-proofed. It follows Australia's disastrous wild fire season and tinder dry conditions this summer in many parts of New Zealand. Could 'green firebreaks' be the solution? Tim Curran is a senior lecturer in ecology at Lincoln University and Paul Devlin, isĀ  the head ranger for Christchurch's fire-prone Port Hills.