Acclimatisation Society For Horowhenua

Chronicle (Levin), 21 October 1949, Page 4

Acclimatisation Society For Horowhenua

"This is the first time that the society has met in Leyin for 25 years or more," said Mr. H. R. Keys, when speaking a^'a mepting called in Levin on Wednesday night for the purpos.e of forming ,a lpcal branch of the Wellington 'Acclimatisation Society. , . Mr,, JCeys went . on to say that in forming the local society, the meeting had tos decide what it should he called. There were two alternatives, he continued. It would be possible to form an independent sub-branch, which would be known as the Levin branch, or there had b.een a s.uggestion to amalgamate with the Otaki society, in which case it would be known as the Horowhenua society. After some discussion the meeting decided to accept Otaki's offer of amalgamation and together become the Horowhenua Acclimatisation Society. It was further arranged that the meetings be held at bi-monthly periods, with alternative meetings at Otaki and Levin. "One of the most imp,ortant needs for this area is a groiip of active rangers," said the chairman of the Otaki society, Mr. F. Thorpe. Instances of poaching in the Otaki district were scarce, he continued, but there were definite signs of serious poaching in the Levin area. "With the numbers we now have, we shoul'd be able to do something about the poaching menace," he added. The election of an action committee, with power to add, resulted as follows: — Convener: Mr. H. R. Keys; committee: Messrs H. Varnharm C. Wilkinson, E. I. Parrington, L. G. Bismark and Dr. E. T. G. Miller. "We should he more co.ncerned with the conservation of fish and fowl and their environment, than of the acclimatisation of more specips to this country," sqid a member of the Wellington Council, Mr. H. Tyndale. The main caqse of the lack of wild life lay not §q much in the scarcity of wild life, but in the lack of food and breeding grounds, he continued. One of the best ways to foster the growth of ducks would "be to. encourage farmers to haye ponds, or small lagoons on their properties. The society co.uld help in this matter by /arranging for fences to be placed around such places to protect the 'feeding grounds of the birds from cattle, he said. Facilities for access to the water at one end of the lagoon could be made for tlqe cattle, he added.