KAPITI ISLAND.

Otaki Mail, 24 March 1922, Page 4

KAPITI ISLAND.

« ——. A BIRD SANCTXTA2.Y, NOT A ] HALB-PABM. Apart from all controversial matters, tlio scientific side of the discussion be- , tween the Minister of Lands,and the , Kapiti Island Sanctuary Advisory , Board presented some points of inter- t est (says the Evening Post). Dr. L. , Cockayne is reported as saying, con- . ; cerning the North Island generally, i i that if stock was kept off, the land | 1 would go back into forest within one 1 1 hundred years. Applying the same -rui- i ing to Kapiti Island, a large portion i of which has been for a long time in ' grass, there is a reasonable prospect that the wliolo of the island may bo re- ! . forested even without the assistance of man; and, with man’s assistance, ; reafforestation seems to be entirely practicable within an even short*,.time. It would appear, therefore, that three courses offer: (1) to deforest iva--piti and turn it into a sheep station, (2) to make an attempt, by fencing o.u all tho bush from all the deforested land (tv costly process), to preserve the existing moiety, of forest, and to treat J the balance as sheep-farms; (3) to j fence off the Crown land (or sanctu- | ary) part of Kapiti from the Native sheep-farm (Mrs Webber’s), to pmiect the existing forest from all its enewes, J and to reafforest the rest of the ti : land, thus creating a real sanctuary ;* j New Zealand birds to which the idigo.OUS flora is a necessity of life. The j third course is the only course consist- j ent with a true sanctuary policy. The J 'testimony of Dr. Cockayne and others - indicates that it is practicable. j Deforestation, which is the opposite extreme to sanctuary preservation, \v j need not discuss; as a thing to be aimed at. —either openly and directly, <•• indirectly by a. policy of drift—it i now out'of the market. Course No. ? 1 which is a hybrid, may take more k" j ling. But it is just as noxious as it *• j insidious. No man may serve two mas- | tors; and the servants of a piece of Crown land which is half a bird-bus. I (it could not be called a sanctuary) and half a sheep-farm would inevitably j *be divided in their allegiance. Project such a concern into the imagina--1 tion, and what does the mind’s eye see! ‘ The receding of the grass-line, or the i receding of the bush-line? No answer j needed. * The fact is that no policy will do ox- * eept a full sanctuary policy. Even m ; tho Kapiti grassland tauhina and ia»naka are gaining ground. What arc they there fori Are not manuka ami its allies the fore-runner and protect*"' of young foa-cst tree growth, and there- , fore -the first essential of forest regen- . e-ration? Moat authorities are agreed j that the Ne.w Zealand forest trees need the New Zealand forest seed-bed. This soft, humid seed-bed exists only on the forest floor, and is quite different in character to the hard, compacted, treeless ground on which grass grows. One cannot in a day transform grass turf j to forest seed-bed, cm! therefore it j would seen* that the practicability of {sowing seed of native trees iri the d«- - * forested parts of Kapiti. in order to *ie- * ‘ euro reafforestation, is limited. As the * manuka does its work, and as other growths follow in its footsteps in their ; ‘ appointed cycles, seed-bed conditions will gradually be restored; but in the meantime, where such conditions do not sufficiently exist, reafforestation may be advanced by planting. When the departmental parl y and its honor!ary advisers visit Kapiti, tire occasion should be suitable for laying down some definite principles, and for dec id- | ing whether an attempt should be made | to plant in the open country suitable native trees, especially trees likely to ’ fill in'gaps in the routine of native bird food, such as kotukutuku (wild fuchsia), cabbage tree, flax, titoki, etc. In tho proceedings between the Minister and the Advisory Board, weight was properly attached to the disappearf. imec on Kapiti of the kotukutuku—t f o r which some people blame the opos- | sum—and to .the importance of its berI 3 y food and fird-resisting qualities. If [ the visit, to Kapiti results in some reafforestation being done—not oil paper, but. in actuality—the trip will not be' well worth while,.