Kiwi habitat in east Taranaki saved

Forest and Bird, Issue 265, 1 August 1992, Page 11

Kiwi habitat in east Taranaki saved

CONGRATULATIONS to the North Taranaki branch and their chairperson, Peter Winter, who have succeeded in their 15-year campaign to end forest clearance at Aotuhia in the east Taranaki/Wanganui hill country. Helped by the work of Forest and Bird’s conservation staff and the Wanganui Conservancy of DoC, the branch has been able to protect another 1,000 hectares of important kiwi habitat. The three areas involved have one of the highest densities of North Island brown kiwi and are uneconomic as farmland. They are also surrounded by land proposed for addition to Whanganui National Park. In 1983-85, Forest and Bird publicised the unnecessary destruction of prime wildlife habitat and forests on erosionprone lands in Aotuhia. At that time extremely steep lands and native forest areas identified as

reserves on the original landuse study were being cleared. But in the Crown land allocation in 1988, the government accepted Landcorp’s assertion that the blocks were potential farmland. Since then Forest and Bird has continued to call for protection of the shrublands for their kiwi population and other wildlife, and hundreds of members wrote to the Prime Minister asking for his support for the area’s protection. Landcorp has now sold the last areas in contention on the Aotuhia and Poarangi farm blocks to DoC. Along with Waitotara forest and thousands of hectares of conservation stewardship land, these blocks are now proposed for addition to the Whanganui National Park. You can get details on the national park additions from DoC, Private Bag, Wanganui (closing date for comment is 30 September).