Wilding Free Mackenzie secures $510,000 community funding from the Department of Conservation for wilding pine control across the Mackenzie Basin and Upper Waitaki Catchment area. The funding is very welcome, and will buy us some time, but it is not enough to properly solve the wilding pine problem.

Wilding Free Mackenzie and Ōhau Conservation Trust recently had an offer we couldn’t refuse – 78 members of the Canterbury University Student Volunteer Army (SVA) as volunteers for a day and a half!

The war on wilding pines is being fought by multiple agencies, community groups, landholders, and other good people across Aotearoa and they came out in force to clear pest pines from an environmentally significant site on Ben Dhu Station near Ōmarama.

Mackenzie District Council and the Envirowaste team are offering free disposal of wilding pine slash for residential landowners in the Twizel area this Easter weekend in an effort to reduce fire hazard and improve community safety.

Landowners affected by wilding pine infestation in the Twizel area learn the skills required to collect their own seeds and grow their own plants, to encourage positive management of their land after the removal of wilding pines.

We have been busy in February delivering plant propagation workshops to local landowners and communities affected by wilding pines. With the help of horticultural consultant Jo Wakelin, and funding from Wilding Pine Network, 21 lucky people learned how to propagate plants from seed, and are now much better equipped to manage their land in a positive way following the removal of wilding pines.

Learn more about the Tipping Point Wines project in this 6-part series documenting Al Brown's journey from concept to completion of the Tipping Point range. It focuses on entrepreneurialism while giving back to the natural environment, with Wilding Free Mackenzie featuring in episode 6, The Woodsman.

We are delighted to announce the arrival of Tipping Point Wines, a new range of wines developed by New Zealand chef Al Brown and his winemaking friends, that focuses on giving back to the local New Zealand environment. Every purchase of The Woodsman pinot noir helps Wilding Free Mackenzie protect our stunning tussock landscapes through education, collaboration and giving wilding pines the chop!

Wilding pines are not a valuable tool when it comes to fighting climate change. Like all trees, they do sequester carbon, but their negative impacts on New Zealand's fragile ecosystems far outweigh any benefits they contribute to carbon sequestration.

Understand how the issue of wilding pine invasion has gained traction in recent years, where things are at now, and the role landowners need to play in the fight against wildings

Learn why wilding pine invasion is such a threat to the economy, our precious native ecosystems and the safety and wellbeing of our communities.