Cedars lost

Press, 14 June 1984, Page 3

Cedars lost

All other known mature cedars on the Peninsula — some of them at least 400 years old — died during the late 19505. The saplings in the Armstrong Reserve represented the last crop of seed produced by these trees and, barring a miracle, there seems now to be little chance of regeneration.

“The majority have clearly died,” Dr Molloy said. "Many still have foliage on their upper parts, but this is discoloured, and falls away when touched. Some still have some flexibility of foliage, a few still have green patches, and a very few are more green than scorched. 1 did not see a completely untouched seedling among the hundreds growing there.” Probably fewer than 30

cedar saplings are known to be growing elsewhere on the Peninsula, and most of these are in poor condition. A few are in the bush margin on an unreserved

area at Purau, fewer than

20 are growing on Herbert Peak, about five malformed

seedlings are in the Sinclair Reserve, and one poor

specimen is in the Kaituna Reserve.

If the Flag Peak cedars

do recover, it will take a long time, because this is a

tree which grows at snail’s pace. A seedling 47cm high which Dr Molloy measured in 1978 proved to be 21 years old, and an Bcm seedling was nine years old. Regeneration of the snow tussock is also an open question.

“In many cases we are

just looking at ash, burnt butts of tussocks, and ■ charred stems of shrubs,” Dr Molloy said. The area had not had fire through it for at least 80 years, but experience elsewhere in run country indicates that six to iv years will be required for full

recovery of tussock growth. Many changes are likely to occur in the grassland community as a result of the fire.

"It is important that the public be made aware of the extent of the damage, so that they can realise the vulnerability of some reserves to fire,” Dr Molloy said.

“This fire demonstrates just how sensitive these areas are. I hope that the authorities concerned will look at the situation, to see what can be done to prevent a recurrence.”

Dr Molloy said that, with the concurrence of his director, Dr Warwick Harris, he had drafted a letter to be sent to the North Canterbury Parks and Reserves Board, which will meet next week.

He will report on his observations of the burnt area, and suggest some follow-up procedures, such as the regular monitoring of regrowth and an assessment of the cedar population. The Botany Division would be able to do this work.

Dr Molloy will also call for a review of fire-permit — and fire-control — procedures on the peninsula. “It is important not to sweep this sort of thing under the carpet,” he said. He also intends to raise the question of fire permits at a meeting of the North Canterbury Catchment Board, of which he is a member.

When it was suggested that the catchment board’s position might be a difficult one because, though it exercises direct control over burning permits for most high-country areas in its district, it has delegated the issuing of permits on Banks Peninsula to the local authorities, Dr Molloy said: “The catchment board still has an oversight. It can’t sit idly by.”

One of the board’s soil conservators visited the area yesterday to inspect the damage.