The Tongariro National Park is home to a range of threatened plants, butterflies and moths.
Photo: Supplied / Max Rayner
The Department of Conservation (DOC) says Tongariro National Park is home to threatened species of flora and insects, as fire-fighters wait to see if a wildfire in the area has really been extinguished.
Fire and Emergency said an observation flight this afternoon has found “no visible signs of fire” after rainfall in the area.
But the impact on biodiversity was expected to be significant.
DOC director terrestrial biodiversity Tim Bamford told Checkpoint the park is home to threatened species.
“It’s home to a range of threatened plants, such as orchids, and also a range of threatened butterflies and moths as well,” he said.
“But it is a resilient environment and it’s been shaped by a range of volcanic activity and fires over the last few hundred years.”
Bamford said there were birds living in the edges of the area – such as New Zealand falcon and whio – but they were feeling positive they would have flown away to escape the blaze.
Bamford hoped the area will regenerate over the next few years, but had concerns about weeds over taking native bush.
“The species in there and the plants are generally quite slow growing, whereas invasive weeds like heather, and broom, and gorse, are really fast growing,” he said.
He said they wanted to put monitoring in place to understand what vegetation was re-establishing in the area, and to make a plan if it were the invasive weeds, to stop them spreading
“That will really smother the plants and the species that make this place so unique, sacred and spectacular.”
Bamford said there was a conversation to be had about restoring the scorched area, including how long walking tracks would remain closed.
Ngāti Hikairo ki Tongariro has placed two rahui on parts of the national park, in which the wildfire has burnt through more than 2500 hectares.
The first covers the Tongariro Alpine Crossing and will remain in place for a week.
The second applies to any burnt areas, and will remain in place for an extended period to allow the land to regrow and heal.
“Given the slow growing environment, I think there is a conversation for restoration, about what that looks like, so in terms of access to infrastructure, and for people, to the park, that’s seven days, and the 10-year rahui is focused around allowing the land to regrow and heal through restoration of that environment rather than the use of it,” Bamford said.
‘It looks out’ – thermal imaging to check hotspots
Fire and Emergency told Checkpoint they would be doing thermal imagery of Tongariro National Park tonight to see if the blaze that left more than 2800 hectares in ashes is truly out.
An observation flight this afternoon has found “no visible signs of fire” after rainfall in the area.
Ground crews have also been working on the flanks of the fire to strengthen the containment lines.
Incident controller Nigel Dravitzki said favourable conditions had reduced the blaze.
“Visibly, it looks out,” he said.
“We’re doing thermal imaging drones over it tonight to see if we can pick up any activity or hotspots that we can’t see.”
Concerns raised for wildlife welfare
DOC’s Damian Coutts said the impact on biodiversity was going to be significant.
“It’s going to take us weeks once we can get our ecologists in to really understand that,” Coutts said.
He said he did not know when the national park’s facilities will reopen.
Meanwhile, the charitable foundation that manages the Kaimanawa wild horses said they were in no danger at present from the massive blaze on the Central Plateau.
In a social media post, the Kaimanawa Legacy Foundation said it had received many messages asking if the herd was safe.
It confirmed there was no immediate threat to their habitat.
The fire was about 30 kilometres from the horses’ territory, and they were monitoring the situation closely
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