Untitled

Forest and Bird, Issue 29, 1 April 1933, Page 1

THE backbone of the prosperity of New Zealand is the efficient use of the land and the backbone of the land is the efficient conservation of our indigenous forests, because they prevent erosion and thereby the destruction of the lower fertile lands. Our indigenous forests, moreover, are the agents especially designed by Nature to prevent excessive floods, because, owing to their dense floor covering, when in their natural state, they hold back and retain surplus rainfall. In many other ways they are essential to the well-being of our land, such as in the maintaining of equable climatic conditions, and because they give off into the atmosphere during times of drought that moisture which they have conserved during periods of heavy rainfall. These indigenous forests, which cannot be replaced, are now being destroyed by ever-recurring fire, the conversion of steep country into non-economical use, and above all by introduced plant-eating animals for the pleasure and sport of a very few.