NZ's fragile mountains: Sacred places under threat

Friday, 12 August 2016

Sunset over Aoraki Mt Cook.

The giant, loved mountains of the South Island are more fragile than we realised, writes Charlie Mitchell.

The giant peaks of the Southern Alps, snow-capped and seemingly unshakeable, are more delicate than some expect.

From the active fault line coiled beneath the South Island's spine, to the waves of tourists just discovering their beauty, they're in danger on several fronts.

'We have to manage the change ... this requires greater speed and flexibility than we've applied to date,' said former Ministry for the Environment chief executive Hugh Logan.

At this week's Sustainable Summits conference, mountain experts from around the world commiserated about the fragility of mountains.

They heard the story of Aoraki and his brothers, who rowed their waka from the sky before crashing on a reef. All were turned to stone by howling winds.

Tiny Aoraki Mount Cook village is threatened by avalanches.

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Lake Tasman, Aoraki Mount Cook National Park.

* 4.5 million international visitors by 2022

Many speakers agreed that mountains worldwide were under threat. They were on the front line of climate change, and risked being loved to death by visitors wanting their piece of the sacred peaks.

Mt Sefton, Aoraki Mt Cook National Park.

The conference was held at the Hermitage Hotel at Mount Cook, the first time it had been held outside the United States.

It had a distinctly New Zealand focus but found general agreement about one aspect: authorities and mountain users need to do more.

'Things are not going to remain the same,' said former Ministry for the Environment chief executive Hugh Logan.

'We have to manage the change, and almost certainly manage the change at a faster rate than we believe. This requires greater speed and flexibility than we've applied to date.'

Among the topics discussed was the impact of tourists, and the awkward balance between encouraging commerce and conserving the environment.

About half a million people visit Aoraki/Mount Cook National Park each year. Its chief ranger said he now spent his days at a computer, fretting over how to manage the influx.

At Tongariro in the North Island, capacity on the famous alpine crossing was exceeded more often than not.

While political debate raged about taxing incoming tourists – at least half of whom end up visiting a national park – the damage was being done, Logan said.

'I suspect that we are unprepared and unwilling at the moment to take corrective action until it has already had an effect … Too often I think we tend to, in terms of responses, be cautious about upsetting the economic apple cart.'

Scientists talked about the retreating glaciers, and the exponential increase in rock avalanches seen at Mount Cook.

At least two experts called themselves doom merchants, there to deliver bad news. Things would get worse before they got better, they said.

Of particular concern was the prospect of a devastating earthquake on the Alpine Fault, a matter of when not if.

The latest science predicted a 30 per cent chance of a large earthquake in the next 50 years.

Department of Conservation (DOC) boss Lou Sanson said it kept him awake at night. His staff would be the first to respond to the 'catastrophe,' which would have an unknown impact.

Every decision DOC made in the mountains now recognised its fragility, he said.

'We don't make a decision in the mountains without geo-tech, because we know these mountains are in trouble, in terms of a lot more failure than we've seen recently,' Sanson said.

An earthquake would affect small communities such as Franz Josef, which straddles the Alpine Fault. Moving the town would cost tens of millions.

Up to 3000 people visit Milford Sound at any one time. It could be cut off by an avalanche.

The area had among the lowest rating base in the country, Sanson said, but someone would have to pay.

Amid all the doom, there was optimism about the future. Such conferences didn't exist a decade ago, and now people were talking about these issues in the open.

'It's not just a sit-in-an-armchair-type of conference, it's a full-participation type of conference,' said Alaskan clean climbing expert Roger Robinson.

'People that are coming here all want to be involved, and that's kind of the purpose.'

Robinson is considered the Godfather of the event.

It took him six years to organise the 2010 Exit Strategies conference, which was the first of its kind and became the blueprint for meetings such as Sustainable Summits.

For the first time, mountain users were talking about problems both big and small, he said.

'There was no one good source in the United States, and then I found there was no one real good source anywhere. People were generally creating the wheel over and over again.

'The lightbulbs are going off in peoples' heads about other ideas that are possible, and that's what this is all about.'

Conference co-ordinator Dave Bamford, an international tourism advisor, said he did not expect such a wide range of speakers.

It took two years to arrange, and was well worth the effort. In 2018 the conference will carry on in France, where the ideas shared this week may be close to fruition.

'It's definitely a great exchange of ideas. We don't always agree with each other, but it's a great exchange,' he said.

'Everybody's been inspired about making sure we look after our maunga, and the mountains are in better health in the future than they are today.'