Bitterns on their Doorstep

Forest and Bird, Volume 19, Issue 1, 1 February 1988, Page 6

Bitterns on their Doorstep

Kevin Smith,

West Coast conservation officer,

looks at Haast and its people.

aast has one of the most splendid natural settings in New Zealand. Some people, however, would have you believe that Haast is a rain-lashed hamlet sitting in the middle of a mosquito-infested swamp, and that the local residents have little time for nature and even less time for nature lovers; a petrol stop between the glaciers and Queenstown, but most definitely not a place to linger. Yet, if you are tempted to join the increasing number of tourists who stop at Haast, you will discover an area endowed with ecological riches and natural scenic beauty. Haast offers unparalleled opportunities for wilderness recreation from challenging back country tramps to leisurely canoeing on a myriad of hidden, slow-flowing waterways. The local people will surprise you too. They willingly share with you their love of Haast’s many natural wonders and endeavour to make your stay the experience of a lifetime.

Environmental spotlight

Haast is in the national environmental spotlight at the moment. Later this year, the Government will make decisions on the future of the publicly-owned forests and wetlands of South Westland between the Cook River and Big Bay. Conservationists are seeking full legal protection for these public lands which contain the country’s last kahikatea forests, most extensive freshwater wetlands and exceptional populations of

forest and wetland birds. The Haast district lies in the heart of this region. With 278 people it is the major population centre. Haast people are determined that they do not become ‘‘conservation casualties’ as exaggerated claims by anti-conservationists raise fears that they may be forced to leave the district. Local fisherman Jenny Barratt represents their interests on the South Westland Working Party. This was set up by the Government to make recommendations on future land use options for the State forests of southern South Westland. Other members of the Working Party include representatives of the timber industry, West Coast local bodies, and several government departments. Since June, I have been on the committee representing public conservation interests. Jenny says she is not opposed to reserves if they can be shown as vital and do not affect the local people. Conservationists must be sensitive to that challenge if they are to achieve their goals. Significant progress was made in reconciling the needs of local people and conservationists last year when Forest and Bird Director, Gerry McSweeney and I negotiated directly with the residents’ action committees, and visited many of the region's households to listen to local people’s concerns. An interim agreement was reached covering major issues such as grazing leases, whitebaiting, game recovery and tourism developments.

Partnership needed

Suspicions about conservation still exist but local people have also been quick to realise that conservation management can bring them social and economic benefits from increased tourism. They are seeking a partnership with the Government in tourism promotion and development to help them build up their nature-based tourist industry.

They admit their small, scattered population cannot undertake these projects on its own. Local tourist operators believe one of the best ways this can be achieved is through a partnership with Forest and Bird and the Department of Conservation. However, they are keen to ensure their environment does not suffer through overcommercialisation. In a report to the South Westland Working Party they noted that: ‘The Haast area appeals to those who are compatible with and sympathetic to untamed areas and we want it promoted as such." Life has never been easy in untamed Haast. The isolation, climate, poor soils, heavy forest cover and extensive wetlands have made this a difficult area for human settlement. However, recent archaeological work has revealed an unexpected series of major pre-European Maori settlements in the region. It seems that Jackson Bay (Okahu) was once the centre of a major trading network in greenstone whose source lay in the inland ultramafic belt of the Red Hills. These settlements had all but vanished when Europeans arrived in the 1800s. After South Westland’s gold mining boom collapsed in the late 1860s, special govern-ment-funded settlements were founded at the unlikely sites of Jackson Bay and Smoothwater Bay to reverse the population decline. These soon proved to be foolishly ambitious and had disappeared within a decade. Since then there has been gradual economic development based on farming in the river valleys, commercial fishing of whitebait and sea fish, game recovery (red deer and chamois) and tourism. The 1960s saw a dramatic upsurge in tourism with the completion of the Haast highway. More than 300,000 tourists now travel this highway each year and are catered for in the Haast

district by a major tourist hotel, a motor camp and motels at Haast, Okuru and Lakes Paringa and Moeraki. Chequered sawmilling history Sawmilling has had a very chequered history in the region. In the 1960s a large mill was established near Haast by Carters, an Auckland-based firm, to mill private resources. Poor economics and a dwindling estate of unlogged private forest saw the mill close in 1979. Local people have mixed feelings about this saga. While concerned about the population loss, they were relieved to see the exit of a sizeable "‘rough"’ element in the imported work force and an end to large scale milling which threatened to turn the Haast plain into a wasteland. During their short stay, Carters felled most of the forest between the Okuru and Turnbull Rivers. Carters were replaced by a small sawmill that eked out the remaining private timber. After several changes of ownership it closed last year because it was unable to sell its timber on the glutted South Island timber market. Local confidence in the fledgling sphagnum moss industry took a nosedive last year as well when a sizeable moss plant on the old Carters mill site closed because of marketing problems. The future a realistic view What of the future? June Johnston, local motelier and garage owner, takes a realistic view. ‘‘What we are seeing at Haast with the increasing emphasis on protection and tourism is part of a world wide trend. Unless we adapt we could end up as extinct as the moa."’ June has joined forces with motor camp owner Brian Glubb and storekeeper Ian

Rendall to explore new ways of capitalising on Haast’s potential for nature tourism. They are ideal people for the task as they share a great love of the Haast environment. Each of them treasures a personal copy of Jonathon White's book of landscape paintings which features a striking cover painting of tall kahikatea swamp forest beside Ship Creek — Haast’s answer to the Everglades. White, a Forest and Bird member from Edgecumbe, is a regular visitor to Haast and is considered by the locals to have captured the essence of the New Zealand rainforest better than any other painter. Their delight in nature may come as a surprise but everyone at Haast it seems has a great store of fascinating anecdotes about the abundant wildife on their doorsteps. Birds that have disappeared from most parts of the country are commonplace here. A falcon recently put on an entertaining performance when it trapped a bunch of sparrows under a pile of bread crates outside the store. Fernbirds and booming bitterns abound in the wetland alongside June Johnston's Erewhon Motel. Banded dotterel and godwits share the adjacent paddock with her herd of Timor ponies, a tourist attraction in their own right. Brian Glubb tells of a kiwi hunt with the Wildlife Service in Waiatoto forest next to his motorcamp and hearing 14 individual bittern along the edge of the vast Waiatoto Swamp. Ironically, the extensive wetlands of the Haast plain mean that local shotgun enthusiasts have to stick to claybird shooting. The waterfowl have such a wide choice of wetlands they can easily avoid a handful of duckshooters. The local residents’ observations have made an invaluable contribution to our knowledge of wildlife in the Haast area. For example, Powelliphanta snails were first recorded in the area by Ian Rendall and a fellow deer shooter who had noticed seagulls collecting them in the Roaring Billy Valley. Bird watchers’ delight Ian came to Haast in 1963 from the Orkney Islands. Attracted here by its natural beauty himself, he considers Haast has an untapped potential for nature tourism. ‘‘Bird watchers would have a field day here. Our forests are alive with birdlife and the wetlands teem with waterfowl and wading birds. You can even watch Fiordland crested penguins waddle across the beach from the roadside near Knights Point." The Haast tourist operators have been impressed by Forest and Bird's South Westland Adventure Tours. Eighty people came on the three pioneering tours last year and spent a week with my wife Barbara and I enjoying the South Westland outdoors. One of the tours was run mid-winter to demonStrate the potential for winter tourism. Tourists traditionally avoid South Westland in winter, yet at this time of year the weather is usually fine and mild, while the snow-clad Alps are at their photogenic best. Few people realise that the sunshine hours at Haast equal those of Christchurch. The plentiful rainfall usually comes in short sharp bursts (18 inches in 24 hours is the Haast record) and is quickly followed by

clearing weather. The locals also point out that if the weather was perfect everyone would want to live at Haast! Haast people are keen to work with Forest and Bird to build on these successful tours. They want to encourage more tourists to spend a few days holidaying in South Westland rather than the usual overnight stop at the glaciers and a headlong rush to Queenstown or vice versa. June Johnston hopes to attract more Forest and Bird members. ‘‘They are ideal vistors. They always enjoy Haast and don't expect city-style entertainment." Knocking down the barriers This view is endorsed by Ian who believes it is time to ‘‘knock down the barriers’’ between Haast people and conservationists as there is so much to be gained through cooperation. One way this can be achieved is to jointly promote sensitive tourist development of the region's natural areas. Top of the list is a visitors centre to inform tourists of the available attractions and activities. Attractions within easy reach of Haast that could be featured in the visitors centre include the following: @ seal and penguin colonies @ kahikatea swamp forests and unique sand dune forests @ Cascade Forest and the Red Hills @ Jackson Bay and the Smoothwater Valley @ Arawata Valley @ Lakes Ellery, Mary, Moeraki and Paringa @ Tawharekiri wetland and its 20km of canoeable waterways

@ Landsborough River valley (rafting, tramping) @ Hooker-Landsborough wilderness @ Paringa-Haast cattle track

Other essential developments include the upgrading of existing sub-standard forest and coastal walks and the building of several strategically placed additional tracks. Haast could have New Zealand's first kahikatea swamp forest walk — at present most tourists can only peer at these incredible forests from the roadside. A track through the unique sand dune forest alongside the Hapuka estuary by the motor camp would also be popular. The Haast tourist operators are aware that they need to provide a greater range of activities for tourists. Brian and Phillippa Glubb are looking to provide canoes for hire so tourists can experience the quiet flax and

kowhai-lined waterways that penetrate the forest behind their motor camp. They are also hopeful DoC will resume the nature programme run at Haast in 1983-85, since terminated. DoC’s guided activities and evening talks can play a key role in encouraging tourists to stay longer in the region. John Dennes, one of the new owners of the 120-bed Haast Hotel, is keen to offer recreational activities to get the bus-bound and fly-drive tourists who stop overnight, out enjoying the Haast environment. The hotel works in with Aspiring Air, which offers scenic flights to Mt Aspiring and Milford Sound, and with local helicopter operator Dave Saxton who can land visitors at a beautiful alpine lake only a few minutes flying time from the hotel. Tourism earns nearly a $100 million for the West Coast each year, far more than the troubled sawmill industry. In remote localities like Haast, it has a competitive advantage over sawmilling with which it is competing for the forests. This is clearly evident in the traditional tourist towns of Fox Glacier and Franz Josef, the only South Westland towns to prosper over the last decade. In Haast tourism is already one of the major employers and has a better growth potential than fishing and farming, the other economic mainstays. By co-oper-ating with local people and promoting sensitive tourist development, conservationists can help make conservation more acceptable in this strategically located small community. &