RECLAMATION PROJECT

Press, Volume XCVIII, Issue 28792, 13 January 1959, Page 7

RECLAMATION PROJECT

Big North Island Area

A major reclamation and afforestation project, embracing 25 miles of coastline in the North Island, is being carried out by the New Zealand Forest Service, and an appeal has been made.for yellow lupin seed to complete the early stage of the afforestation, designed to overcome wind and s£a erosion on the loose sandy strip and bring the surrounding land into maximum production.. The programme is a long-term one. but is expected to be, completed in a few years when suitable land improved by the scheme will be made available for pastoral farming by the Lands Department. in conjunction with the Forest Service.

The coastal strip extends from Santoft, near Bulls, to Wanganui, and comprises largely drifting, unstable sand. About 30 Forest Service employees are engaged in the* work, which involves sowing blocks of the country in Marram grass to arrest the drift, sowing yellow lupin, and planting put trees which will give protection to the lupin and help enrich the soil*, Macrocarpa trees may be? used'm the project.

As soon as the first sheltering strip of trees adjoining the coastline is established, other trees will be planted in the cover provided further inland. The forest belt will extend between 20 chains to a mile wide for the 25 miles of coastline. Much of the area is Crown land, but the Forest Service hopes to purchase pri-vately-owned land along the seafront to make an uninterrupted shelter and protection belt. “As the amount of yellow lupin available in the Palmerston North Forest Service conservancy, which is in charge of the reclamation work, is not sufficient to carry out the sowing, the Canterbury conservancy is accepting seed from local producers who can materially assist in the vital stages of the planting scheme,” said the assistant conservator of forests in Christchurch (Mr M. F. Armitage) yesterday. The project was essential if the land was to be brought into maximum production, and would make a much greater area of land available for stock raising than at present, he said.