2020 Wilding Pines Conference

We held our 2020 Wilding Pines Conference in Rotorua at Toi Ohomai Institute of Technology from 25-27 November. Below are the presentations and notes from this conference.

Even with the Covid-19 pandemic, this conference was our biggest yet, with about 140 attendees representing 58 different organisations. The conference opened with a pōhiri welcoming us onto Tangatarua Marae and to Toi Ohomai. We next had a session on fire hazard of wilding pines, with presentations from Veronica Clifford from Scion and Steve Palmer from Environment Canterbury. The afternoon included parallel session on Health and Safety Reporting and on Support for Community Groups. After an update from the National Wilding Conifer Control Programme, we finished the day with a panel discussion on the National Environmnetal Standards for Plantation Forestry when we discussed the limitations of these regulations.

The morning of our second day of the conference started with the keynote address from Paul Warbrick, Chair of the Ruawahia 2B Trust, who shared the history of Tarawera and its significance for Ngāti Rangitihi as well as the importance of their wilding pine control on the maunga. We followed Paul's address with a panel discussion on iwi-led wilding pine control and heard about iwis' perpsectives on wilding pine management. We next heard updates from the latest science on wildings, inlcuding wind modelling research and post-control monitoring. We finished the conference's second day with a discussion about post-control restoration opportunities and then held the NZ Wilding Conifer Group's AGM.

For our field trip, we went up Tarawera in a rare opportunity to learn about the maunga and its history. We also were able to assist with wilding pine control on the maunga ourselves by pulling up wilding seedings.

For more information about what was presented at the conference, please find the presentations in the links below.

Day 1 – 25 November

Day 2 – 26 November