Caves threatened by logging

Press, 20 February 1979, Page 11

Caves threatened by logging

The Metro Caves, a 7.5 km cave system in the Charleston State forest, 30 km south of Westport, are •’seriously threatened” by proposed Forest Service logging, says the president of the Native Forests Action Council (Ms Gwenny Davis). In a letter to the Minsiter of Forets (Mr Young), the Native Forests . Action Council has asked that no logging be allowed in the area of the caves as it would cause “considerable damage.” , The catchment of Aranui Creek, in which the caves are sited, was “narrow with steep, unstable hills,” said Ms Davis. “Many tributary streams have narrow, deeply incised beds that would readily form tern-

porary dams if clogged by debris generated by logging.”

The cave passageways would then become clogged up with debris. It was highly likely that the flooding of the caves would follow. If the caves were flooded their scenic and scientific value would be “degraded,” said Ms Davis. Dirty water flowing through the caves would discolour the highly ornate white stalactites, stalagmites, columns, and other decorations. Flooding of the dry upper sections of the caves would also increase the rate of change of the formations. Any marked change in the caves would “profoundly upset the fragile habitat of a diverse

arthropod fauna (such as harvestmen. spiders, and beetles) and unusual aquatic fauna.”

Fossilised bones from extinct birds, including moas, had been found in the caves which are the longest in the South Island.

At present the caves were closed to the public and were to be developed as a tourist attraction, Ms Davis said.

“The protection of the Metro Caves would readily be achieved by the preservation of about 200 ha of State forest land in the upper catchment of Aranui Creek,” Ms Davis said.

The lower portion of the catchment had already been designated a reserve under the Buller County

Council’s proposed district scheme, she said. “It would be a tragedy if Jogging in the upper catchment undermined progress to protect the caves, especially as the value of the timber that could be safely removed, adhering to forest operation guidelines, would be appreciably smaller than suggested by the 200 ha area,” Ms Davis said.

The National Parks Authority had commissioned a study of the Pa-paroa-Punakaiki region as a possible site for a national park, Ms Davis said that the Metro Caves would be an asset in such a park and that anything done to endanger the caves would be “most inappropriate.”