THE LITTLE THAT REMAINS.

Hokitika Guardian, 29 June 1927, Page 4

THE LITTLE THAT REMAINS.

(‘'Lyttelton Times’’)

Any efforts by the Progress Leagues of the .South Island to preserve the beauty spots and to protect the rapidly diminishing bird life of the Dominion are worthy of general support. The remit passed by the conference last week calling the attention of the Government to the want of complete enforcement of the regulations and the consequent destruction of bird and plant life, shows that the public conscience needs awakening to the necessity of preserving our srouic reserves and the remnant of bird life that still remains. The ruthless destruction of our forests In places where the laud even when cleared, could be put to little practical use. and the wicked waste of valuable timber by fire, are mistakes that can never be corroded. Bui care can lie taken of wlml still remains, and the reservation of areas of liu,-h fiy the (tovernment. such as that "ii eaeli side of ihe road for part of the way between Hokitika- and the Franz Josef Glacier is a commendable attempt to preserve for the future characteristic pieces of New Zealand Horn. In the larger areas thus set apart, little harm can result from tbe depredations of the collector, but in till' smaller beauty spits nearer the cities the vandal who cannot resist the (emptal ion to break down trees and entry off any plant that takes his fancy is too frequently in evidence. | Even private lands are not safe from I his destructive tendencies, and in one valley on Banks Peninsula, where tin 1 owners have preserved delight fill patches of hush along the creeks, such wanton damage was done b,\ city picnickers that stern measures had to be taken with trespassers. Complaints have also been made that, (rain excursionists on the West Coast line have been guilty ol much damage to the bush, from which ferns and .small plants are carried away ill large quantities at seasons ot the year when efforts to transplant them are doom ed to failure. If this is allowed to continue it. means the eventual destruction of one of the most charming features of a scenic resort within reasonable distance of tile citv.

1 nfummaloly this destruction is not confined to Canterbury alone, for complaints m the same direction hare been mode in other parks of Ihe Dominion. Li New South Wales, too, the difficulty has assumed such alarming pr.-i----poriiou.s ihat the Government has. hv proclamation, forbidden for a year the gathering of certain plants and wild flowers. Such a course might not he necessary in New Zealand, but. some inonim must be found for limiting the destructive tendencies of vandals who lack any appreciation of natural heaiity or consideration for their fellows.

While strict enforcement of regulations governing reseres may have some effioct Ahe greatest hope lies in the ctiltnutam of n proper public spirit towards native bird and plant life. With the heavy demands of a wide curriculum and the desire of many organisations to use the schools for propaganda purposes, one hesitates to suggest that the teachers should take, this mailer lin, . Ki - But it is so essentially a I o-mmioii matter, and one so much in the interests of the children themselves that opportunities could he found for impressing upon them the responsibility lll>n 'b p everything possible to proTi' ve, ° l „' “"'I native birds. lie 1 rogress Leagues’ Conference has done valuable service in calling the a tent ion of the Government, and the public to this matter.