Nateva helping FENZ protect local forests and communities
As part of its active forest management programme, Nateva has invested in the latest weather monitoring technology and is sharing information with Fire and Emergency New Zealand (FENZ), to help protect local communities and our forest environment against the risk of fire.
While the incidence of wildfire has traditionally been low in New Zealand, the effects of climate change are creating warmer, drier and windier conditions across many areas of New Zealand.
In New Zealand, almost all forest fires are caused by human activity. Many common agricultural activities can create a fire risk – from heat produced by engines and machinery to metal saws and mower blades that can create sparks. So understanding when, and where, conditions might make a fire more likely, is key to reducing those risks.
Most people travelling around the country will be familiar with the FENZ fire danger signs, updating travellers on our rural roads about the daily fire danger. The Fire Weather Index (FWI), introduced in NZ in 1980 and managed by FENZ and NIWA, creates up-to-date weather observations and forecasts to help determine those local fire risks, which FENZ communicates through the road signs, as well as an online database (fireweather.niwa.co.nz), regular weather updates and a range of other resources.
However, New Zealand’s diverse topography means environmental conditions can vary significantly, even over short distances. So the more detailed the information which can be fed into that system, the better-informed local people can be about fire risks in their area.
To provide more data on its own estate, in late 2023, Nateva established three weather stations in forests in Wairarapa, King Country and Waikato. Each station, which costs around $20,000 to construct and requires ongoing maintenance and calibration, was designed and built by local experts to meet FENZ specifications. The sites were selected because they typically experience different weather ranges in each region, provide improved geographical cover on top of existing monitored weather stations – helping to provide a more detailed picture of the local environment.
King Country Weather Station
After taking the initiative to establish the stations, Nateva arranged with FENZ to make the data available in real time to contribute to the fire weather index. This helps FENZ provide a more comprehensive picture of fire conditions for people living and working in those regions.
Nateva also shares that data – along with the extreme weather alerts provided by FENZ – with its land managers. The information helps them plan their work programme, avoiding activities that could ignite a fire during high-risk periods, and ensures they increase assessment and monitoring of the forest estate under their management during episodes of ‘fire weather’.
The weather stations have also been performing an additional role, helping Nateva ecologists understand more about the weather conditions, including wind, temperature and rainfall, within the forest. This information is particularly useful to the team when monitoring the growth rates of native seedlings, established in seed islands or as enrichment planting as part of the organisation’s ongoing native restoration programme.
Gathering local weather information also forms part of Nateva’s broader fire management and mitigation programme. Nateva has developed comprehensive fire plans for each individual property that it owns, which start from the design stage of each forest. These plans are lodged online with FENZ as part of Nateva’s wider Fire Mitigation programme.