TIME and the FOREST

Forest and Bird, Volume 18, Issue 2, 1 May 1987, Page 16

TIME and the FOREST

Carole Long

Bay of Plenty conservationists have been involved in a 15-year battle to gain permanent legal protection for the KaimaiMamaku State Forest Park. Here executive

councillor

outlines why

the forest Is SO special. his has been a long hot summer in the Bay of Plenty. The grass is crisp and brown, and the convoluted skyline of the Kaimais stands clear every evening. Aongatete may carry its morning cap of mist from the Waikato occasionally, but the bog forest on the summit is as dry as it has ever been. The creeks and rivers continue to flow from their source in the forests, slaking the thirst of the ever-widening throat of horticulture, farming and domestic use. Showing no sign of being satisfied is the thirst of thousands of local people for permanent legal protection of these forests. This is the fifteenth year of the campaign to have the Kaimai-Mamaku forests protected. Society Field Officer Kevin Smith remembers vividly the first meeting in 1972 when Mangatotara was at risk — this was the start of Kevin's involvement in conservation. The most notable battler for the Kaimai-Mamakus is Tauranga’s Reg Janes, Distinguished Life Member of the Society, who still plays a most vital role in the campaign by his presentation of the history and values of the Park at Tribunal and committee hearings. Most Bay of Plenty residents are able to see the skyline of our Forest Park from their homes or as they travel to and from work. In Papamoa and Te Puke the forested hills of Otawa are very close, and recently overseas tourist parties visiting kiwifruit

orchards have included the virgin forests of Otanewainuku in their itinerary. These forests arguably offer the best chance for survival of the kokako, and their richness in plant and bird life is well known. The Kaimai-Mamaku region has been recognised, indeed since the time of Cockayne, as an important part of one of the two most significant botanical transition zones in New Zealand. Major elements of the New Zealand flora (kauri, beech, kamahi, etc.) here mix to form unique combinations of plant cover. The region includes good quality podocarphardwood forests, remnants of impressive stands of southern-limit kauri, as well as open stunted stands of northern-limit silver beech at quite moderate elevations. Historically the Park contains areas of great interest, with a long history of use from Maori times to the gold mining and timber milling eras of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.

Mystery to Many

Though the Park covers 40,000 hectares and is 70km in length, it remains an undiscovered mystery to many, as there is no Park Headquarters, and no road signs guide the public into the many tracks and huts available. An excellent map and track handbook has been produced by the Forest Service. This can be obtained from the local Branches and from the new Department of Conservation office in Tauranga. Local Forest Service recreation officers have run three summer programmes of guided walks in the Park and the response has been staggering. Thousands of children visit the Park’s lodges each year from local primary, intermediate and secondary schools. Parents who are involved as helpers never fail to marvel at the beauty of the bush, rivers and waterfalls, and gain with their children an understanding of the value of such outdoor

experiences in the natural environment. Use of the Park is available to a large population (1.5 million people live within 150km of the Kaimai-Mamaku range). The Park provides a wide variety of activities from short walks to demanding 2-3 day trips. As development intensifies, the recreational importance of these forests becomes more valuable. In the 1960s, when huge areas of central North Island forests were lost to forestry companies for conversion to pines, the then Conservator of Forests, Rotorua, promised permanent protection of Mangatotara and Aongatete forests. However, management plans drafted in 1972 and 1982 each zoned about half the park for conversion to exotics (1972) or indigenous management (1982). Public op-

position to such schemes has been strong and effective. It would be hard to assess the number of people involved in the campaign to have the Kaimai-Mamaku forests permanently protected. There have been public walks, a fun-run to the summit, displays, talks, newspaper articles, meetings, a petition, endless letter and submission writing, and presentation of the case for protection to committee after committee. The 1972 Kaimai Action Group, widened in 1982 to the Kaimai National Park Promotion Council (KNPPC) now encompasses more than 30 conservation and user groups. The sheer physical effort and the hours of time and mental energy devoted to this campaign are impossible to measure, and it says much for the conviction of the Bay of Plenty public that there is no slackening of enthusiasm. Within the week of 4 to 11 March 1987 a KNPPC deputation visited Wellington to express dissatisfaction with the lack of protection offered by the draft Conservation Bill, and the Planning Tribunal heard over 100 objectors to an application for mining exploration in the Park.

Requirements of the campaign are:

No logging — salvage or otherwise. There is a population boom in the Bay and the more pressured life becomes in urban areas, the more need there is for places of tranquility. A feature of the dead and dying trees, particularly tawa, is the abundance of beautiful fungi and perching plants which grow on them. Old trees are also vital for birds. No "enhancement" with exotics such as blackwoods. Plantings of kauri already exist in the Aongatete area, and V-blading was done in Whakamarama for plantings of eucalypts and Tasmanian blackwoods. A decision last year by the Advisory Committee to remove the blackwoods is being carried out by Forest Service staff this month. Local conservationists offered to do this work, but the growth of pampas grass and bush lawyer in the V-bladed tracks made the job extremely difficult. The range is remarkable for its ability to regenerate native forest and the KNPPC meetings left no doubt that Park users were keen to have only native vegetation remain. No mining. BHP is the latest mining company to apply for gold exploration rights in the Park. Once again the Planning Tribunal will be called to hear local people with widely differing backgrounds plead their case for the principle that the Kaimai-Ma-makus be treated as a National Park and all mining activities kept outside Park boundaries.

The economic value of the Park lies not in the gold which may be in small quantities in the rocks but in the priceless water catchment it provides. The multi-million dollar horticulture industry is totally dependent on natural water supplies during the summer and recognition is slowly dawning that the forests are the key to providing that water. The Tauranga County Council has this month called a special meeting to discuss protection of the watershed. Legal recognition and protection. Forest Park status gained in 1973 has offered scant assurance of protection because of the continued emphasis on management and inclusion of timber resources in management plans. When it is politically convenient both major parties have promised permanent protection, and Kaimai MP Bruce Townshend has a Private Member's Bill to introduce giving special status to the Kaimai-Mamakus. Community involvement in management of the Park. Advisory Committees for Forest Parks have been too strongly influenced by the policy of the department administering them. Reading the analysis of the submissions on the 1982 management plan submitted by the Chairman of the Advisory Committee to the Minister of Forests makes this abundantly clear. A Park Board similar to those operating National Parks would be ideal, not the total political and departmental discretion given to formulate policies and management plans and analyse submissions in the Conservation Parks

proposal in the draft Bill. The energy and commitment of local people in protecting their forests so far would be well suited to assisting in policy decisions for the Park’s future. It is a reflection of the determination of local people and the tenacity of several members of the Forest Park Advisory Committees that not a single tree has been felled in the Park since 1973. Inclusion of the Mamaku Outliers — Puwhenua, Otanewainuku, Kaharoa, Rotoehu. Forests to the south and east of the gazetted Park must be included as part of the protection package. It is fruitless to defend these forests hectare by hectare. The only definitive statement I have read about Otanewainuku, for instance, is that it isa long-term timber reserve. Wildlife Service studies have proved the value of these outlying forests, which contain record numbers of breeding kokako, kiwi, robin and blue duck. They also serve a most important role in the landscape. The dark green shadow of pine forests has crept far enough, and a checkerboard of kiwifruit and shelter belts covers farmland, turning roads into pale green tunnels. We need the diversity of our forests.

What now

The 1984 National Parks Authority report recommended immediate dedication under the Forests Act of the whole Park, including the outliers of Puwhenua, Oropi, Otanewainuku, Mangorewa and Kaharoa, solely for protection and recreation (similar to Ru-

ahine, Tararua, Haurangi, Lake Sumner and Craigieburn). They acknowledged that even this was insufficient to satisfy the public’s demand for complete protection requiring an Act of Parliament for revocation. Therefore the Authority also recommended a general legislative change to the Forests Act. Now this must be contained in the Conservation Act which is to replace the Forests Act. Instead at the time of writing we have a mish-mash of vague terms and, adding insult to injury, a provision for planting of exOtics in ecological areas. To those of us who still fume at the sight of 10m to 20m native trees felled to make room for blackwoods in Rotoehu Forest this is totally unacceptable. The only solution seems to be to ignore the new legislation and the environmental reorganisation and have the Kaimai-Ma-maku forests and all their satellite forests protected under the Reserves Act as a National Reserve, with revocation only by Act of Parliament. We also desperately need incentives to protect private land at least equal to those available to clear private forests. The chill of autumn matches the chill of dismay felt here at the lack of hope offered in the draft Conservation Bill for the Kaimais. The mushroom clouds of N.Z. Forest Products burnoffs on Galaxy and Omanawa Roads still deepen the sunsets and fire our determination to keep on fighting. Will this be the last ‘winter of our discontent’? 9

Resource material

NPRA Report February 1984 A guide to Kaimai Mamaku Forest Park Ist edition 1983 Fauna Survey Unit Report No. 37, Wildlife Service, by A.J. Saunders