Recloaking Papatuanuku: multifunctional landscapes enhance resilience, conserve biodiversity

A109 Light Utility Helicopter flight with mayor Gisborne City from the air in November 2023.

The importance of addressing the climate crisis by recognising the existing biodiversity crisis was the topic of discussion at the Lawson Field Theatre recently.

Visiting Emeritus Professor of Ecology David Norton spoke about a range of topics which included monoculture, pros and cons of exotic tree plantation and an ongoing project called Recloaking Papatuanuku.

Talking a bit about his role in the field of ecology, Norton said he had spent nearly 40 years working at the University of Canterbury and had only retired from the post last year.

“Back then, the New Zealand Forest Service was still around and managed the bulk of native forests in Aotearoa. My role was to train the students and teach them more about forest ecology,” he said.

The professor recalls that overtime he became interested in learning about threatened plants, especially working with the  semi-parasitic plant mistletoe and  spent a good decade working with a variety of other species.

“As I progressed in my career, I also turned my attention to the remnants of fragrance of forests, and particularly how we can use restoration as a tool to put forests back into the landscape.”

In his presentation, the ecologist showed the audience photographs of natural regeneration of a forest in the South Island. It was one of the many successful restoration projects he had conducted with his students and was done in association with Canterbury Regional Landfill and Wolf Canterbury.

Coming back to the core of his discussion, Norton said: “We can’t look at climate change or biodiversity in isolation. The two are interlinked.”

Citing an example from his experience in the field, Norton recalled working on a piece of beech forest in the Southern Lakes area.

“It looks pretty good from a distance, but  when you zoom in, you start to see an awful lot of dead canopies.

“This is because we’ve been getting much stronger droughts than we’ve ever had before and we have consequences of droughts this summer as well.

“Those droughts, which are a consequence of climate change, are killing trees and we are seeing that throughout our forests in different parts of the country.”

The ecologist said another example would be the upcoming challenges for New Zealand’s only true alpine bird, the rock wren.

Based on ongoing investigations, evidence presented showed that due to climate change a number of predators were being forced to move higher and could cause trouble for the alpine bird habitat.

“So if we want to conserve our biodiversity, we have to address the climate change crisis.”

The professor said while Aotearoa’s farming system predominantly supported monoculture, it was not necessarily reserved to one species.

Besides plantation forestry and growing radiata pine, landowners also practised monoculture such as  viticulture and maize.

Norton said such practices were subjected to severe impacts from weather events like Cyclone Gabrielle.

“When you look at the aerial photography of any catchment, you will see the lack of resilience coming out in the monoculture landscape.

“I think it’s really important that when we start thinking about where we want to go in the future, we should think about how we can move away from monocultural landscapes.”

The ecologist said although no landscape was perfect, having diverse “multifunctional landscapes” would be helpful.

“It’s about encouraging landowners to have not only plantation forests, but also native forests, pastoral farming, bush remnants and so forth.”

Speaking on the good, the bad and the ugly of exotic tree plantations — such as radiata pine, douglas fir and other exotics — Norton said: “I know this is an issue of much concern in Tairāwhiti, and so it is in several parts of Aotearoa, but we do need such plantations.”

He explained that well managed plantations support in providing timber for building purposes, potential supply with biofuel and various chemicals, and are really important for the roads.

“Unfortunately, as we are aware, things don’t always work out right.”

Badly managed plantations caused major problems such as the dire consequences that Tolaga Bay faced in 2017 through documented photographs, he said.

“For Tairāwhiti, I believe we need a catchment by catchment assessment to determine where plantation harvesting should occur and where it shouldn’t.

“I think we need to do the same thing with the planting of new plantation forests — where it is and where it isn’t appropriate in terms of the nature of the landscapes, the erosion potential, and all the other consequences that come from it.”

Norton said there was a need for a programme that involved an active conversion to native forests for such plantations that were unsuitable to harvest — and an action that the Government should be responsible for taking up.

The ugly part of having a plantation was pursuing a carbon farming monoculture, he said.

“I think they’re morally corrupt. It

does absolutely nothing for emissions reductions.

“The people doing it are just taking advantage of the system and the fault lies completely with the Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS).

“It’s good that the ETS has taken notice of the issue and hopefully brings in some changes.”

Norton said the current system presented a massive liability for landowners, for people who resided in the catchments and manage the landscapes.

“For that reason, I believe it’s morally

corrupt and while it may well be legal, it’s not right.”

Regarding the project of Recloaking  Papatuanuku, the professor said the project would enable the transition of land uses based on long-term value and outcomes for the benefit of Aotearoa and beyond.

It would help translate expressions of mauri  into measures of degraded and healthy productive ecosystems and restore balance in the productive soil ecosystems through the use of indigenous microbiomes associated with the manuka me te kānuka system.