Judy Gill: When Tree Removal Becomes Risk

Hawke’s Bay, Mauao, and the Consequences of Substituting Ideology for Environmental Science

Introduction

Natural disasters do not begin with storms alone.

They begin with decisions made years earlier — decisions about land use, vegetation, risk tolerance, and which knowledge systems are permitted to guide public policy.

Ian Wishart: Are climate activists ignoring the evidence at Mt Maunganui?

As the grief turns to anger over Thursday’s deadly landslide on Mt Maunganui (Mauao), the blame game has well and truly begun.

The landslide’s immediate cause was a 274mm deluge of rain in the 24 hours to 9 am Wednesday, which Met Service had claimed was the highest rainfall in Tauranga since records began in 1910.