Kiwi reprieve at Aotuhia

Forest and Bird, Volume 17, Issue 1, 1 February 1986, Page 27

Kiwi reprieve at Aotuhia

Dr

Conservation Director

Gerry McSweeney,

If you want to get results — go straight to the top — Peter Winter and other Taranaki Society members proved the truth of this old adage with their recent success at halting Aotuhia shrubland clearance. They telegrammed direct to Prime Minister David Lange after they proved a number of kiwis were threatened by Lands and Survey’s crushing and burning operations next to the proposed Wanganui River National Park. (Continued on page 31)

(Conservation s update continued) Clearance of Aotuhia’s kiwi-rich shrubland was the focus of a critical article by conservation officer Terry Fitzgibbon in our August journal. TV and newspaper coverage prompted other agencies to get involved in the fray. The Department must now gain Catchment Board approval before undertaking any further clearance. Also as a result of the public controversy a moratorium has been placed on further clearance until the DSIR and Wildlife Service has undertaken a wildlife survey of the shrublands earmarked for destruction. The Society wants farming confined to already cleared lands which will tailor the ‘‘10 farm-$10 million budget’’ down to more modest levels. The Society also believes the Matemateonga walkway entrance is the appropriate western ‘‘gateway"’ to the Wanganui Park rather than a proposal for a visitor centre amidst the charred hills of Aotuhia.