John Lees — Friend of the Forest

Forest and Bird, Volume 21, Issue 1, 1 February 1990, Page 43

John Lees — Friend of the Forest

Ann Graeme

John Lees loved nature and was passionate about its protection. His recent death is keenly felt by conservationists and particularly the Eastern Bay of Plenty Forest and Bird branch, of which he has been chairman and national councillor for the past 10 years. John was a leader in conservation long before it became respectable. In the ‘60s he organised a major though unsuccessful petition against logging in the river catchments of the Urewera, which subsequently led to major flooding in Whakatane. Then he directed his energies to the protection of Whirinaki forest, a bitter campaign that was not for the fainthearted. Charlie Llewellyn, a long time F&B member and friend of John’s, recalled how John was black-listed from entering the forest by permit. "One day John and | were approaching Rogers Hut (in Whirinaki) at dusk. There was a big dog barking and a voice from inside the closed hut door shouted "If you're a greenie ---- off! "I would have gone away," admits Charlie, "but John just walked in saying, ‘I’m a tramper’". By morning they were on the best of terms with the hostile helicopter pilot who later visited John in Whakatane! Whirinaki became a Conservation Park and John worked on the Park Advisory Committee from its inception until his death. More recently he persistently and successfully opposed the building of a seawall at the Whakatane Heads, considering it an unnecessary and potentially disastrous ecological blunder. John never lost his cool, nor hassled anyone, but his enormous enthusiasm and curiosity and love of nature were irresistible and won him many friends. His legacy is in the Whirinaki Conservation Park and the many people he introduced to conservation. These include his daughter Annette, a noted conservationist who is working on South Pacific rainforest conservation.