New Zealand Forests and Conservation

New Zealand Temperate Evergreen Forests

We went for a walk within the Maungatautari reserve. The forest is old, more than predating European colonization of the country. You can feel the age of the forest as you step under the trees, it's cooler, but not just from the shade, it's like the air has more oxygen. If you have been to this place, or somewhere like it, you'll understand what it is I'm talking about. The cool fresh quality of the air, as unique as the salt air of the beach, but totally different. It is as if the air holds an abundance of fresh water but without increasing the humidity.


These pictures were all taken from the path of one of the short tracks that loop around at the edge of the reserve, just inside the fence.


I went to Yellow Stone National Park, and camped in the Teton National Park when I visited the USA a couple of years ago. I remember trying to explain to the Americans I was traveling with just how different the American wilderness is from the temperate rain forests of New Zealand.

Basically, in the Natianal Parks I visited, all the trees looked the same, and were evenly spaced. It is like there is only one tree, that has been perfectly replicated a hundred thousand times. There were spaces between the trees were you could walk, and you could wander away from the camp fire, walk for two minutes, turn and still see all your friends. New Zealand bush isn't like that. I have been to forests where walking more than five paces from the path will put you completely out of sight of it.


Maungatautari Reserve
This particular forest is very special, to the best of my knowledge it is unique. Well, it's not the forest that is special, so much as the fence around it. It started as a stand of native bush on the top of a mountain, stretching over a number of private property boundaries. Like all native bush, it had the potential to be home to an array of native birds, frogs, fish, insects and reptiles.

But, all our forests are plagued by foreign pests. All introduced, and all able to out compete our native wild life, or outright kill and devour said natives. These introduced little horrors are considered harmless in their countries of origin, some times even classed as the cute and cuddly. However here they destroy habitat, compete with natives for resources, hunt down our birds etc.

Wild Goats, Wild Deer, Wild Pigs, Mice, Rats, Possums, Stoats, Ferrets, Weasels, Hedgehogs and the common house cat. All are responsible for unforgivable damage to our native wildlife. And, as a dog person, I hesitate to add dogs to the list, but they do belong on it... apparently all dogs find the scent of our little defenseless kiwi's really interesting, a fact which hasd resulted in countless kiwi deaths.

Many of our native birds can not fly, and even if they can, many more choose not to, many also nest on the ground. They are literally sitting ducks/parrots/falcons. For example, if there are two stoats in a forest, no kiwi chicks will live for miles (I can't find the exact figure in my notes) in any direction.

So, a landowner decided to do something about all this. He designed fences, built them, then placed pests inside the fence. He observed how they got out, which told him what changes were needed to make the fence pest proof.

The fence is around seven feet tall, and topped with a smooth over hang, preventing things from climbing over the top. This is topped with a sensor cable that detects any tree limbs that might fall on top of the fence during strong weather, and sends an alert to a monitoring station so repairs can be under taken immediately. The fence is of stainless steal construction, with the wire mesh too fine for a mouse to squeeze through. This is protected by an eclectic wire on the outside, preventing farm animals rubbing against the fence. The fence goes deep into the ground, and comes outwards, preventing rabbits or other creatures from digging underneath it.

He managed to convince all his neighbors to agree to his plan of enclosing the entire mountain top with his fence. Once the fence was complete, an intensive trapping (and possibly poisoning, I'm not sure) program was put in place to completely irradiate all the introduced species within the fence.

While they are still fighting to catch the last mouse, they have essentially succeeded. This done, they have been introducing native species in a careful order in a bid to reestablish a perfectly balanced and functional, native ecosystem.

There are hiking trails within the fence, which are free to the public. You enter the reserve through a cage, with the door on one side not opening until the other door is securely closed.



This project is run by volunteers, who monitor and maintain the fence, when needed provide supplementary feeding, and maintain the paths within the reserve, and preform wedding to keep invasive exotic plants form taking hold within the forest.

Limited faith is placed in the multimillion dollar fence, so traps are set up within the reserve, to detect the presence of pest species which might breech the fence. These traps need to be checked and maintained. This is also done by volunteers.

The list
One the walk I saw a number of native birds, two of which I had never laid eyes on before, and were on my list of things to see.

1. The GreyWarbler
2. The Tomtit

Two ticks. Yay.