Episode 22. Forests and sustainable tourism

While on holiday in Central Otago in January, my wife Linda and I climbed Ben Lomond, the peak overlooking Queenstown above the Skyline Gondola. The views from the saddle and the summit were spectacular. But what we saw on the track to the summit was concerning. That was the uncontrolled germination of windblown wilding pines that are rapidly transforming and destroying the natural and iconic Central Otago alpine landscape. But what can we do to slow and reverse this unfolding ecological disaster?