Rāpaki fire

Rāpaki fire destroys donated tōtara

Nā Ila Couch.

A fire started by a Christmas Day barbecue on the beach at Rāpaki has destroyed a number of native trees planted as part of a fundraiser for Te Wheke Marae.

Brian Downey and Rewi Couch, who planted the trees, spoke to a witness who said the use of an accelerant coupled with a strong sou’wester caused the grass above the far end of the beach to catch fire. The wind drove the fire up the gully, destroying regenerating native plants including nine tōtara planted on behalf of families who had donated trees as part of the fundraising efforts to build the marae.

The tōtara were part of a wider 2009 Land Management Plan using broom as a companion plant to native trees. “The broom provides perfect protection for the native seedlings which would otherwise die if exposed to too much wind and sun,” says Brian. “Eventually the natives outgrow the broom and the regenerating bush takes over.”

While native bush is not immune to fire, it is more resistant because it is evergreen and comprised of temperate rainforest. “Well-established native bush withstands fire far better than broom or grass because of the high moisture content of the trees and the environment they create” says Rewi. “Our growth was only four years old and still vulnerable.”

Rewi and Brian say in two years’ time when the remaining roots have rotted out, the land will slip as it did in the Whakaraupō Reserve following the fire of 2004. When this happens, the exposed soil is likely to be washed into the mātaitai (marine reserve).

The area will regenerate and among the first plants to take root will be broom and blackberry, the latter makes it difficult to replant natives by hand.

“We’ll hack our way in there” says Rewi. “It’s just unfortunate this happened because it has set our efforts to re-seed that area back about 10 years.”