Mana to be a wild life refuge

Press, 31 October 1981, Page 16

Mana to be a wild life refuge

Five kilometres off the north-west coast of Wellington is a well-grassed, flattopped, wind-swept island which looks more like an aircraft carrier than one of New Zealand’s rocky islands. After a long and colourful history, Mana Island is set to become another major wildlife refuge. A report prepared by the Department of Lands and Survey — “Mana Island, a concept for its management and future use” — has just been released. The department and the Land Settlement Board have been looking at possible future uses of Mana since the exotic sheep breeding trials ended there in 1978.

It seems there is scope for turning part of Mana into a wildlife sanctuary to supplement Kapiti Island just up the coast, according to the Minister of Lands (Mr V. S. Young). The report also looks at w r ays of protecting the special natural and historical features on Mana, and options for greater public recreation and use.

If a wildlife sanctuary were to be established, then a revegetation programme would be required. This could be done in the more sheltered central valley area and would supplement natural regeneration. Experience at the nearby Kapiti Island, which was once grazed and cultivated extensively, shows that revegetation could be very successful. The programme could take five-years and cost several hundred thousand dollars. Endangered wildlife would be brought in from other areas.

Already home to two endangered species, the giant weta and a very rare lizard, the sphenomorphus skink, Mana is unusually safe considering its history. In spite of its proximity to Welling-

ton and nearly 150 years of European settlement and farming, Mana is still free from rats, cats, opossum.s, stoats, and weasels. The giant weta (Deinacrida rugosa) is believed to be the heaviest insect in the world and is found elsewhere only on the Trio and Stephens Islands in the Marlborough Sounds. Once common throughout the North Island, it was wiped out by predators introduced by the European settlers.

Mana is believed to have been discoverd and named by the Polynesian explorer, Kupe, and gained its name from the prestige he gained by crossing the Pacific from the legendary Hawakiki to Aotearoa.

In the early 1820 s, the tribes living in the Wellington and Porirua regions were overrun by the . invading Ngati Toa from the Waikato and their Ngati Awa allies from Taranaki. Their chiefs, Te Rauparaha and Rangihaeata, both had houses on Mana. The remains of a large pa with its house sites, vegetable gardens, and shell middens have been identified by the Historic Places Trust. Mana was first settled by Europeans in 1832 when the Sydney merchants, Alexander Davidson, John Bell, and Archibald Mossman, bought it from the Ngati Toa. John Bell began farming the island with 102 sheep (thefirst Merinos brought to New Zealand) and 10 head of cattle, and supplied meat and vegetables to passing ships and to the small resident whaling station. Mana

has been farmed ever since and the first wool exported from New Zealand left there in 1836.

There were disputes over the ownership of Mana in the 1840 s and 1850 s after it had apparently changed hands several times. To settle the matter,, the Crown acquired Mana in 1856 from the various claimants and paid £3OO to the original Maori owners as there was some doubt about the validity of the sale to Davidson, Bell, and Mossman.

From 1856 to 1973 the island was farmed by various leaseholders. Then, for the next five years, the Ministry of Agriculture used it as an exotic sheep quarantine and breeding research station.'A suspected outbreak of the virulent and damaging disease, scrapie, in 1978, however, put an end to all sheepbreeding programmes, and control of Mana reverted to the Department of Lands and Survey, which has grazed cattle on it. the exact age of the woolshed is uncertain, but was probably built in about 1890. It is now in very poor condition, but the department and the Historic Places Trust are negotiating with a sponsor for its restoration. The report looked at four options — intensified public recreation, grassland farming, revegetation for native flora and fauna preservation, and a combination of' all three. The report concluded that recreation could be per-

mitted only with stringent wildlife safeguards. Pastoral farming, as at present, is uneconomic. Even when the scrapie restrictions are’ lifted the need to fence off the foreshore, the escarpment, and other revegetating areas would reduce the area available for grazing and limit the viability of farming.

Progressive revegetation of Mana would be a major undertaking, but would protect and enhance existing plant and animal life, and allow the introduction of other rare plant and animal species.

By

OLIVER RIDDELL