The Kerr-Taylor Legacy

Forest and Bird, Issue 307, 1 February 2003, Page 48

The Kerr-Taylor Legacy

Named after the father of the donors, the 13-hectare Colin Kerr-Taylor Reserve is a small forest remnant located at Taylor Rd, Waimauku, northwest of Auckland. The reserve was originally part of a much larger property acquired in 1875 by Allen Kerr-Taylor, whose daughter Muriel later gifted ‘Alberton’ in Mt Albert, Auckland, to the Historic Places Trust. The reserve was gifted to the Society by Colin Kerr-Taylor’s daughters Marie and Vivienne. Upper hill slopes and ridges contain significant stands of kauri, rimu and tanekaha forest with kanuka and occasional totara and localised mamangi Coprosma arborea. A gully and associated hill slopes in the northern part of the reserve contains broadleaf forest dominated by puriri, karaka, kohekohe, taraire, nikau and ponga with emergent rewarewa, kahikatea and pukatea. Tracks roughly follow a figure of eight pattern through the various vegetation types in the reserve. A boardwalk and platform allows the visitor to get up close to a large kauri tree. A memorial plaque on a large rock memorialises three generations of the family. The reserve is cared for by Waitakere Forest and Bird, which also looks after Matuku Reserve (featured in Forest & Bird in February and November 2002). — PETER WHITE is preparing management plans for the Society’s reserves. He lives on Waiheke island.