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SEED AND PLANT SWAP

A well-known member of the Society has sent the letter that follows. The Secretary invites members to write to Head Office giving their views of the suggestion, which seems an excellent one.

I have a suggestion which I believe will interest many members of the Society. It is this: to increase the interest in the cultivation of native plants and to let people realise how many most attractive and interesting native plants there are which are worth a place in any garden, I would like to inaugurate a “seed and plant swap” through the journal. The idea is that any member who wanted to gain seeds or plants of any species would write to Forest and Bird, his name would be published with the plants he wanted, and any member willing to supply the plants in question would communicate direct with the requester, not the journal. Conversely, if any member had a quantity of seeds or plants he was willing to distribute, the same system could be employed. I would like to start it off by offering the following, either as seeds or plants: Arthropodium cirrhatum, rengarenga, rock lily; Arthropodium candidum, dwarf species of the former, star lily; Dianella intermedia, turutu, blueberry; Hibiscus trionum, flower-of-the-hour; Libertia grandiflora, tukauki. N.Z. iris; Libertia ixioides, mikoikoi, also N.Z. iris. I’ve given the botanical, Maori (where available), and common names of each species. In return, I would be glad of offers of seed of Notospartium carmichaeliae, the pink broom from Marlborough, and of Pachystegia insignis, the Marlborough rock daisy.

New Mountain and Forest Park, Nelson

A new mountain and forest park in the north-west of the South Island has been approved in principle, the Minister of Lands, Mr. Gerard, v announced recently. The area comprises State forest, scenic reserve, and Crown land. "The new park will include land widely regarded as a botanists’ paradise,” the Minister said. "The area also has a great variety of bird life, including some rarer New Zealand species, the fern bird, and the large grey kiwi. Kakapo are also thought to be present there.” While boundaries had not yet been defined, the park would take in Government-owned land on the West Coast from north of Karamea to Kahurangi Point, embracing the headwaters of the Karamea, Heaphy, Aorere, Takaka, and Wangapeka Rivers, as well as extensive areas of mountain country in the Tasman and Arthur ranges. In all, an unloaded area of almost 1,000 square miles was involved. The future administration of this region had been studied following representations from last year’s Nature Protection Conference, and from the Royal Forest and Bird Protection Society, Mr. Gerard said. These organisations had sought Government action to protect native flora in the region, and provision of recreational facilities. He was in sympathy with these objects, and the Government’s aim would be to achieve them by unified control over the area, becoming increasingly popular. Many trampers used such well known routes as the Heaphy Track, cut in 1888 to provide overland connection between Nelson and Karamea. Interest in the area had led to the Department of Lands and Survey publishing two years ago a map showing the track and this in turn had brought more trampers to the district.

Administration of this new park will be a cooperative effort involving the Department of Lands and Survey and New Zealand Forest Service, as well as the Abel Tasman National Park Board, which administers the Mt. Arthur region,” said Mr. Gerard. “The Commissioner of Crown Lands at Nelson, Mr. K. R. Arres, who is already chairman of the Abel Tasman and Nelson Lakes National Park Boards, and the Conservator of Forests for Nelson, Mr. P. W. Maplesden, will be working together to ensure that there is unified administration of the park.”

No National Park for Rotorua Area

No national park would be created in the Rotorua-Tarawera area, but new scenic reserves were likely to be established, the Minister of Lands, Mr. Gerard, said recently. Mr. Gerard visited the district at the invitation of the Rotorua-Tarawera National Park Promotion Committee, whose representations have been studied by the National Parks Authority. The Authority did not consider the area fitted the concept of a national park, as much of the land did not have the attributes necessary for such a status and parts of it were suitable for land development or afforestation, said Mr. Gerard. The boundaries envisaged also included privately owned land with closely settled residential areas, roads, and modern services over which a park board would have no control. However, the Authority was strongly of the opinion that land of scenic or recreational value not already set aside as scenic reserves should be investigated with a view to its reservation. “I agree with the views of the National Park Authority that, while national park status is not appropriate for the area, there is scope for more scenic and recreation reserves,” said Mr. Gerard, “and establishment of these will certainly be investigated. The committee that raised the national park issue has done a public service in focusing attention on the need to consider the reservation of land additional to the many fine scenic reserves already set aside in the Rotorua district.”

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Permanent link to this item

https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/periodicals/FORBI19630801.2.18

Bibliographic details

Forest and Bird, Issue 149, 1 August 1963, Page 15

Word Count
867

SEED AND PLANT SWAP Forest and Bird, Issue 149, 1 August 1963, Page 15

SEED AND PLANT SWAP Forest and Bird, Issue 149, 1 August 1963, Page 15

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