FOREIGNERS

Evening Post, Volume CVIII, Issue 55, 2 September 1924, Page 7

FOREIGNERS

ANIMAL AND PLANT LIFE

ACCLIMATISATION DANGERS ■ ■ ■ ■ .__■ 7

Much is heard of, the success of acclimatisation work; but little (except when the rabbit pest is mentioned) is said of the dangers attending the process. A statement of these dangers is made by an accepted authority on native" life, Mr. J. G. Myers, M.Sc, F.E.5,., R.A.0.U., in an article published in the Native Bird Protection

Society's Bulletin. : "• It is the duty of every New Zealander to do his best towards the permanent preservation of tliose natural beauties with which this country is so lavishly endowed (writes Mr. ivlyers). Accidental or careless fires, unnecessary destruction of vegetation, and injury to trees are points against .which every decent feeling citizen is on "Tiis guard. But there is another and far more pernicious, because insidious, form of vandalism, "to draw attention to which is the object of these lines.

PAINTING THE LILY.

This applies especially to such portions of New Zealand as "still remain comparatively unaffected by settlement. These, in the form of scenic and forest reserves and. mountains ranges, are subject to less obvious danger against 'which it behoves us to be on our guard. Proportionately to their-degree of reservation and protection these are safe'from such obvious influences as!-axe and fire; yet forces may be at work, and in many, cases are at work, to temper with the very "spirit of these sanctuaries. I refer to" the abominable practice ,of introducing into New Zealand miscellaneous foreign animals and plants. Introduction is a, necessary concomitant of colonisation—we : must have cultivated plants and_ domestic animalsj '. and it 'is inevitable that country which is permanently settled , should <an time take on the semblance 7of an English landscape without the mellow beauty which is England's own; iri reserves and national parks it is not, however, inevitable but a. sin against posterity, and an everlasting reproach to New Zealand, that such a process should not'onlyS be allowed, but should actually in many cases be"' deliberately and actively encouraged by persons iri authority whose patriotism, scorning those natural gloi-ies which embody the very' spirit of our< counfcy, rises no higher than a desire to create in New Zealand a paltry replica of other lands. Such people see in the magnificent ■ sweep of Waimarino's tus-sock-plains only a somewhat dreary expanse \to be improved and "brightened by the addition-of a little colour in the form of heather. Can the smuo- complacency which sets out to paint the lily and gild refined gold rise to greater heights of .'arrogant imbecility!

v -. NATURE'S' BALANCE. I would that everyone might follow a course of biological training, of better learn so; to observe the everyday facts of Nature, that he might gain some insight into, the vast complexity of the ■web of life—that he might know not a single foreign animal or plant can be successfully established in primitive New Zealand without some eSec't on the whole—without some violation .of the sanctuary—without some: disturbance of the balance of Nature.. The successful establishment, of a foreign ' organism means,a victory for that animal or plant --a victory at the "expense of ■ native forms': Dr.' Cockayne and others have stressed the fact that foreign plants cannot find for themselves a niche in country occupied by virgin associations of New Zealand plants unless actively assisted v by the influence of man, and a similar casejcan be made out-for birds and animals. This means that any damage to reserves through the introduction of foreigners can nearly always' be traced to deliberate action as to equally culpable negligence.■■' ■ There' are three weidity reasons against "acclimatisation"— scientific economic, and We owe it to our posterity, who, ,let us hope'for their own sakes, will be far more vitally interested in science than we are, to leave them as much untouched , New Zealand animal and-plant life as we can Our birds especially, and our'plants, too, are among the most wonderful in ihe world—many are unique—and every, illadvised introduction of a new animal is directly or indirectly a nibbling at their heritage. . -' " -' . • " ..

ECONOMIC AND AESTHETIC VIEWPOINTS.

Taking the "economic viewpoint for a moment, and considering the case of b ackberry, gorse, rabbits, and several other major •pests, we realise that the annals of "acclimatisation" are a record of national disaster brought on us and our posterity by wilful ignorance.. .out it. is the aesthetic reason I Wish tb stress here—l appeal to' the feeling and to the jpatriotism v o£ the New Zealand people. I have called the dangers of ' acclimatisation" insidious—and ; one sees the .thin, edge of the wedge inserted at many, points. The outstanding influence—th<* deliberate planting of heather in the'Tongariro, National Park-has-been already mentioned. \ There irjeparable damage has been committed ana . associations of plants upw cover a considerable area, which'is neither New Zealand nor Scotland, but, a bastard mix-: tvr tf of both. Nature made there by the laborious process of ages and evolution a Venus of Milo, and our generation has set upon the head of this masterpiece Vi Merry Widow hat-the 'result, says Dr. Cockayne, is ,like '.nothing either on earth,, nor it is to be hoped elsewhere. ' ' ' .

, }" le* oj various exotic species calculated to thrive in the locality have recently been planted near one of the huts on the middle of the -Tnrnrua Kajige. At first sight.the scheme is a laudable one—firewood and shelter will be provided for future trampers. But again it js tlio t)iin end ot\the wedn-e— if the unfortunate occurs and these foreigners become established on the" Tai-i----ruas we must remember.that their seeds are dispersed • by., the wind,- and there is.considerable danger of further spread. Is octrees, alter the whole aspect of the landscape more than pines. . Oneswellknown New Zealand artist found V the exotic pines overlooking the Huka Falls so utterly foreign - to'the spirit of New Zealand landscape, that, choosing the lesser of two.evils and electingto follow Aature unspoiled rather than.paint the illegitimate Sffspring of California and Alaonland, had \perforce to omit them from this sketch:'

Deer, introduced and fostered for the pleasure of an infinitesimaj minority have committed .many thousands hi pounds' worth of damajre to our indigenous forest—and so the process on Now Zealanders, are you content with New Zealand as Nature- has made her, or shall the "acclimatisors" continue their mischievous policy until not a vestige of the real New" Zealand exists outside the pages of liistorv!