Threats and diseases
Aotearoa New Zealand’s native trees face a number of threats. Some threats, like deforestation and dieback due to possums, have been around for decades or more. Other threats are relatively new. New Zealand scientists are working to stop the devastation of diseases like kauri dieback and myrtle rust. Climate change and the disruption of weather patterns introduce the possibility of future threats, including forest fires.
Related articles
Myrtle Rust Reporter – citizen science project
Related media
Detecting myrtle rust in New Zealand – interactive
Rural fires – video
Rural fire risk – interactive
Image: Wildfire image courtesy of Scion. Myrtle rust image courtesy of Ministry for Primary Industries under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International licence. Deforestation image, public domain.