Ahipara fire highlights fire risks
Far North District Council is paying tribute to the magnificent work carried out by Fire and Emergency NZ (FENZ) in tackling a very significant blaze at Ahipara Tuesday night.
Far North Mayor, John Carter QSO, says it was a very significant fire for the coastal settlement. “I would like to pay tribute to the outstanding work carried out by FENZ and the other emergency services. Without their intervention I shudder to think what might have happened. I also want to thank the many individuals and organisations in the area that provided a wonderful level of support to those in the community who were evacuated at the height of the emergency.”
Mayor Carter also has a strong fire safety message to visitors and residents alike: “It is so important that advice and instructions offered by FENZ is followed – to do otherwise is both foolhardy and dangerous. This fire was a warning to us. Fortunately, we've escaped without loss of life, loss of property or injury this time. Every resident and every visitor to Northland has a responsibility to make sure this sort of thing doesn't happen again. This has been a massive warning.”
A total fire ban has been in place for Whangārei and Kaipara since Thursday 24 December. The Far North remains in a restricted fire season meaning a permit is needed for all outdoor fires. However, fire permits are suspended in the area until further notice due to the weather conditions. For the latest details on where and when you can light a fire, go to the FENZ www.checkitsalright.nz... webpage.
Some Choice News!
DOC is rolling out a new tool to help figure out what to tackle first when it comes to protecting our threatened species and the things putting them at risk.
Why does this matter? As Nikki Macdonald from The Post points out, we’re a country with around 4,400 threatened species. With limited time and funding, conservation has always meant making tough calls about what gets attention first.
For the first time, DOC has put real numbers around what it would take to do everything needed to properly safeguard our unique natural environment. The new BioInvest tool shows the scale of the challenge: 310,177 actions across 28,007 sites.
Now that we can see the full picture, it brings the big question into focus: how much do we, as Kiwis, truly value protecting nature — and what are we prepared to invest to make it happen?
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