Landowners and members of the public are being urged to be vigilant to prevent the spread of fires into wetlands this summer.

Two recent fires, in gumland near Ahipara and in the Whangamarino Wetland have been particularly destructive. National Wetland Trustee and wetland ecologist Beverley Clarkson says these are a warning that we could be seeing more fires in wetlands this summer and to be extra careful when working or in or around them or visiting them. A spark from a rubbish fire, a discarded cigarette, or even a spark from an exhaust can start a fire in hot dry weather.

With lake and river levels down and water restrictions already in place in the Far North the fire risk could become extreme over the next few months.

Fires started in wetlands naturally every one to several hundred years before humans arrived, either by lightning or volcanic eruptions, but Clarkson says, “Fire is expected to become more common with climate change and people burning rubbish or starting fires deliberately are an additional risk. The cost to the environment and the economy is huge”

Whangamarino Wetland in Waikato has been subject to several devastating fires over the past 40 years, including the most recent in late October, that burnt more than 1,000 ha and took fire fighters nine days to put out.

Don Scarlet who represented the National Wetland Trust at a BBQ co-hosted with the Waikato Rural Support Trust, to thank the firefighters said, “the fire fighters worked incredibly hard. It was dangerous and exhausting work. We at the National Wetland Trust and the Rural Support Trust were hugely grateful for their effort.”

Wetlands play a critical role in the environment, helping to protect and improve water quality, preventing flooding and providing habitat for unique species of plants and animals some of which are rare.

Clarkson says the Whangamarino Wetland is one of the largest carbon sinks in the country. An estimate from DOC suggests 96,000 to 181,000 tonnes of greenhouse gas were put back into the atmosphere during the last fire and this could be worth $5.1 to $9.6m based on current carbon markets. A study undertaken by Clarkson after the Whangamarino fires in 1984 and 1989 showed that it took the wetland vegetation about six years to go back to its pre-fire stage.

Clarkson advises that maintaining water levels in wetlands and avoiding large fires is important if we are to reach our carbon reduction targets.

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In a hot, dry summer the above ground vegetation in a wetland can burn easily. A big fire can destroy the plants that form the peat and even burn down into the peat itself sometimes taking weeks to put out and releasing tonnes of smoke and carbon into the atmosphere.

Fires also create bare ground and encourage weeds such as willow, wattles and broom to invade. They can spread rapidly and promote further fires becoming a significant cost to control.

In summer of 2022 two large wetlands burnt – Kaimaumau in the Far North and Awarua in Southland with nearly 4,000 ha of habitat lost and an estimated loss of more than 515,000 tonnes of carbon valued at $27.3m. The Kaimaumau Fire burned for over two months and cost Fire and Emergency more than $7m to extinguish.

The National Wetland Trust is a registered charitable trust established in 1999 to increase the appreciation of wetlands and their values by all New Zealanders.

For further information about wetlands see https://www.wetlandtrust.org.nz/

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