Stephens Island: Ark of the Light

Forest and Bird, Issue 299, 1 February 2001, Page 43

Stephens Island: Ark of the Light

by Derek Brown, 248 pages, limp, published by Derek Brown, 212 Main Road, Havelock North, 2000, RRP$30.00 This is one of those enthusiast’s books, written by someone

immersed in first-hand experience, and believing sufficiently in the value of their chosen subject to publish their findings personally. In this way a number of special places have been recorded for posterity, and Stephens Island in Cook Strait is equally deserving. Derek Brown first went there in 1984 as a cadet with the former Wildlife Service: the island is home to an estimated 50,000 tuatara, (some say 30,000, others 100,000) and once had its own wren (eaten to extinction by the lighthouse keeper’s cat). Subsequently Derek Brown has been involved in the island’s management — it was part of his bailiwick as a Department of Conservation officer from 1987-1996 — and he spent around two years on the island, doing research, managing threatened species, and restoring the habitat. Derek Brown writes of nature and local history, including Maori times, and the significance of cooperation with Ngati Koata over the management of Takapourewa as a Nature Reserve. The book is packed with details about the island’s special nature and the course of efforts to preserve it.