800 years of humans in NZ

For upwards of 800 years, humans have made New Zealand their home, modifying the landscape to suit their needs. Footprints on the Land tracks those changes — from early settlement and wars through to state building, with railways, species introductions, milling, mining and farming. We ask author Richard Wolfe some questions about the book:

Aotearoa New Zealand was the last habitable landmass to be settled, some 800 years ago. I set out to document the impact humans have had – and continue to have – on our landscape. In our case the biggest changes have been the loss of the original forest cover and the extinction of many species of birds.

I hope the book raises awareness of what has happened in the past, and suggests where we might go from here. Can we, for example, continue to cut down trees, and allow our towns and cities to sprawl, creating social and transport problems and in many cases smothering good agricultural and market gardening land with concrete and asphalt?