Hugh Wilson Living with the Land

Forest and Bird, Issue 308, 1 May 2003, Page 22

Hugh Wilson Living with the Land

LYNETTE HARTLEY

meets a Fcciaci whio Kias

sperit rnore thar 15 years lookirig after 21 partchi of regerieratirig forest

inewai Reserve is enveloped in H misty stillness but brown creepers (pipipi) do their noisy disappearing and reappearing acts amongst the fuchsia, mahoe and five finger on the edge of the garden. Eventually the sound of squeaking bicycle brakes heralds Hugh Wilson as he rattles into view on the grassy track leading to his house. He apologises profusely for being late — he has lost track of the time watching pied shags feeding fish to their young in a colony near Akaroa. Akaroa is Hugh Wilson’s nearest town. It is about eight kilometres and over 600 vertical metres away but there is no chance of Hugh Wilson taking a car in to do his errands. ‘Tm fairly well known for my views about private motorised transport, he says. ‘I think it is wrecking our planet, our society and our health. No one’s fit any more — people jump in their cars and drive to the gym. It’s ridiculous. ‘Without trying to sound fanatical I decided years and years ago I wanted to have nothing to do with cars, he says. ‘I’ve never made a better decision. I just love the car-free lifestyle. Hugh Wilson’s ‘car-free lifestyle’ included cycling more than 90 kilometres to and from Christchurch every 10 days (180 kilometres round trip) for several years after he became part-time manager of the newly established Hinewai reserve in 1987. He continues to work part-time on his botanical books but now lives permanently at Hinewai. Beyond the pipipi and rampant flowering celmisia in Hugh Wilson’s garden, the reserve covers 1050 hectares from Stony Bay Peak (806 metres) and the rocky outcrops on the surrounding ridgelines to the Otanerito homestead at 20 metres. The valley is on the eroded outer flank of the Akaroa volcano and about as far southeast as you can go on Banks Peninsula. Southerlies sweeping in from the ocean keep the gorse, broom and native bush on the slopes well watered. Hugh Wilson says the opportunity to manage Hinewai for the Maurice White Native Forest Trust (see Forest e Bird February 1989) was a dream come true. While working on a botanical survey of Banks Peninsula he had been heartened by the biodiversity remaining in pockets on the peninsula. ‘I just itched to look after a piece of Banks Peninsula. I thought it would be fantastic to have a really substantial piece of land and give the conservation values a top priority. I offered to do it for nothing

for the first 10 years, he says. Hugh Wilson found himself surrounded by gorse and suspicious neighbours (see Forest & Bird, February 1995). One farmer wrote in the Akaroa Mail, ‘I am all for saving patches of bush, but the thought of starting from scratch on land that is clear enough to be used productively frankly appals me. As for shutting up a whole valley, heaven help us from fools and dreamers. Hugh Wilson says he gets along famously with his neighbours now, even the ones who were openly sceptical. They come for a look and just rave about the place, he says. The Banks Peninsula Track, a four-day private walk, runs through the reserve and was a major factor in the reserve fitting into the community, he says. ‘It’s brought us closer to the landowners. I got to know my track colleagues far faster than I would have otherwise and it’s had an amazing spin-off. Landowners are pouring money back into conservation now. There’s not a single farmer on the track who hasn't fenced some bush or given land over for sanctuaries. Some of them are passionate about it — they trap predators, monitor penguins and provide extra nesting sites. Four to six thousand people visit Hinewai each year including about 2700 who do the walkway. The reserve is now contributing significantly to the economic activity of Akaroa, Hugh Wilson says. The philosophy of Hinewai is minimum interference.

‘Planting is not our thing, natural regeneration is so much more appropriate, efficient and scientifically interesting. Nature produces droughts and we lose hundreds and hundreds of the plants nature has planted and she doesn’t give a damn. She just has millions more that don’t die? There have been compromises along the way. For seven years Hugh Wilson tried to manage Hinewai without herbicides. It was impossible to keep the 17-kilometre boundary free of gorse and broom as legally required. He still refuses to spray, applying all herbicide by hand. Likewise the regional council come in and poison for possums when numbers get too high for control by trapping. The reserve has been more successful than Hugh Wilson ever dreamed it would be. The gorse has provided a nursery for native plants just as he anticipated it would. Mahoe and fuchsia and five finger are pushing up under the gorse canopy and starting to visually dominate areas of the reserve. Over the next few years the change will accelerate. Even some of the rarest of the rare are coming back such as raukawa Raukaua edgerleyi, a relation of five finger. Hugh Wilson found only about 30 specimens during the Banks Peninsula botanical survey. Another of his favourites, the broad-leaved cabbage tree Cordyline indivisa, is also becoming more common in the reserve. Birds such as pipipi, native pigeon and tomtit are thriving and Hugh Wilson is

optimistic that tui, which are only rarely seen on the peninsula, will return. He is hopeful some species such as parakeets will reintroduce themselves. The reserve will always need managing to control pest species but there should be less work as the natural recovery of the native canopy continues. Hugh Wilson, who has done voluntary work in Sarawak, climbed in South America and cycled around Europe, says he doesn’t want to travel any more. ‘T’ll never jump in a plane again. They’re worse than a motor car. But ’'ma hypocrite because I have done it and I loved travelling but I’m never going to do it again. ‘Here on Banks Peninsula I feel my roots getting deeper and deeper into one bit of ground and it builds up a depth of understanding you can never get as a traveller. I want to be here till I drop dead under a bush somewhere. There is no place on earth I love better, he says.

Hugh Wilson has recently produced a book of extracts from his regular newsletters to Hinewai’s supporters, Hinewai, the Journal of a New Zealand Naturalist. Illustrated with his line drawings, it describes day to day events and milestones in Hinewai’s metamorphosis. Among other books, he is also the authorillustrator of two outstanding field guides to nature, Stewart Island Plants (which may also serve in other mixed rainforest environments) and Wild Plants of Mount Cook National Park (which provides a guide to alpine areas).