“Pines are one of the most flammable plants on the planet.”

That’s a quote from a plant ecologist at Victoria University, Dr Nicola Day.

And it's why some Christchurch councils went to the Government wanting a change to the forestry rules, to try and stop pine forests being re-planted on the Port Hills after the big fire earlier this year.

The second big fire on the Port Hills in less than 10 years. And the Government has said no. Which I get. It's saying to the councils that it’s not prepared to change the forestry rules just to suit Christchurch. So I get that.

But, at the same time, it’s nuts that more can’t be done to try and make sure we don’t have another big fire in another seven years.

So, what happened is Christchurch and Selwyn mayors Phil Mauger and Sam Broughton, acting Environment Canterbury chair Craig Pauling and another ECAN councillor, wrote a letter to the Minister of Forestry Todd McClay.

And they pointed-out to him that, after the first fire in 2017, there was no way they could stop pines being re-planted. Which meant, of course, that when the second fire broke out on Valentine’s Day this year the pines were back again and, bingo, we know where things went from there.

And within days there were Port Hills residents coming out and saying how crazy it was that the pines had been re-planted after the 2017 fire and asking, you know, when will we learn?

Since then, the councils have gone as far as they can go - and there are some changes proposed to what’s known as the Canterbury Regional Policy Statement.

But the forestry rules, as they stand, get in the way of anything further. Because they allow anyone who has existing rights to have a forestry plantation on the Port Hills to replace it like-for-like if it’s damaged or destroyed by fire.

The adventure park is a case in point. After 2017, the pines were re-planted there because the landowner had an existing right to plant them. There was nothing that could be done to stop that. This is what these local councils are trying to change. But the Government has said no.

When the fire was happening back in February, a director of McVicar Timber Group —which owns the land where the adventure park is— was quoted in media reports saying that planting native trees costs 10-times more than planting pine trees.

He also said that he didn’t think native trees would survive in the Port Hills because the area is dry and rocky.

At the time, there weren’t many —if any— Port Hills residents agreeing with him.

Such as Hannah Miller, who said: “Seven years ago was the perfect opportunity to re-plant in natives. I’m no expert on fires, but we’ve seen what burns in the Port Hills and what doesn’t burn, and the native vegetation does a pretty damn good job of stopping it.”

She went on to say: “What on earth are we doing planting pines right up there? That’s utterly ridiculous.”

And I’m not going to argue with that. Because it was utterly ridiculous that pines were allowed to be re-planted after the 2017 fire and it’s utterly ridiculous that the forestry rules —as they stand at the moment— allow the same mistake to be made again.

But the Government has said “no”. So where do we go with this now?

If the councils here in Christchurch have had no joy with the Minister of Forestry, they need to be contacting his Cabinet colleague Simon Watts - who is the Climate Change Minister.

Because climate change —and more extreme weather— are part of the picture here.

Just over two weeks ago, Simon Watts released the Government’s five-point climate strategy. And one of those five points - under the heading “Nature-based solutions to address climate change” says the Government wants homes and communities better protected against climate change through restored habitats and ecosystems. It also wants more native forests.

So that’s where I think these councils should go next.

I can see why the Government doesn't want to tinker with the forestry rules just because of what we’ve been through here in Christchurch with two big fires on the Port Hills in seven years. But something has to be done to try and make sure we don't have to go through the same thing all over again.

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