2 Introducing The DEPARTMENT OF CONSERVATION
New Zealand's natural and historical places, native wildlife and
plants are national treasures that we hold in trust
for future generations.
THEY ARE IRREPLACABLE
The Department of Conservation has been entrusted with their
management and protection. The department administers all public
land and property which is protected for natural,
scientific, historic and recreational reasons.
Forest parks have been established to protect the natural and historic
values of the landscape as well as to cater for the wide range of recreational uses.
The Waipoua Sanctuary is home to the kauri giants - TANE MAHUTA,
TE MATUA NGAHERE,
the YAKA tree and the MCGREGOR.
Tracks to the big trees and elsewhere in the forest feature
areas of great historic and scenic interest.
3 Professor W. R. McGREGOR MEMORIAL RESERVE
To the northeast is the McGREGOR RESERVE which was bought by the
New Zealand Restoration Trust in 1985 with funds raised by public
subscription. The purchase was supported with finances from the
Queen Elizabeth II National Trust. The reserve was dedicated on
November 1985, as a memorial to the man who did most to save Waipoua.
In 1988 a further block of 101 hectares was added, making it
a total of 247 hectares in the Reserve.
The Reserve is partly covered in cutover forest and partly in regenerating
shrubland and grass. It is bounded to the east and north by the
Waipoua Sanctuary, and on the south side the Katui road
along the ridge forms the boundary.
The Reserve commands a fine view of the sanctuary. It is the intention
of the Restoration Trust to encourage the regeneration of the local
forest species in the cleared areas, and ultimately to make
the forest continuous with the Waipoua Sanctuary.
7
A stand of young 'RICKERS' is seen to the southeast.
Regeneration of kauri forest occurs in gaps in the forest. Seedlings grow
where they are free from competition from dense root mats of mature
kauri with sufficient light, moisture and nutrients.
Sparse seedlings develop into the pole or 'RICKER' kauri that sometimes
persist for over 50 years before breaking through the forest
canopy and developing into the mature form.
'RICKERS' can be thin poles or trees up to 80cm in diameter with
branches all the way up a tapering trunk.
The mature kauri form occurs once the lower branches are shed naturally
and the trunk loses its taper by the thickening into a cylinder.
The branches of the crown lengthen and turn upwards.
Male and female cones develop on the same tree. Female cones are the flattened egg
shaped cones found on the forest floor. The seeds are
released high in the tree from early February and are spread by the wind.
Less than 50% are fertile and the number that germinate is low.
8
Picture of a mature kauri (Photograph by Leo Geary),
kauri seedling, Kauri grass (DOC photos not shown),
male and female cones with kauri seeds (DOC brochure, courtesy DOC) (seeds, courtesy Rose Cowan, the volunteer caretaker).
9
Areas of pasture were once kauri forest that have been logged and burnt.
The timber would have supplied mills at Kaihu, like James Trounson's in the
late 19th Century. The land was settled for farming.
Despite pressure on Seddons government to continue settlement, this was suspended
in 1906 after a policy change in the Forests Act (1885).
Establishment of the Waipoua Sanctuary in July 1952
finally gave Waipoua legal protection.
The farmland would revert to native forest if current farming
practices stopped. Manuka invades pasture and makes an environment
suitable for forest seedlings to grow.
Exotic weeds invade the sanctuary but only on slips
and banks and other disturbed areas.
[ Between 9 and 10: also, a notice about
TREATMENT OF WASP STINGS ]
10
Glassed in case with brochure. Toatoa Identification Trail brochure.
Waipoua Sanctuary brochure. Trounson Kauri Park brochure.
14 Geology
The land has been built up over sandstone sediment and stoney deposits
laid down under the sea 35 million years ago. This became covered by
volcanic lava flows and baked sediment around 15 million years ago.
Seven million years ago more sediment, silt and pebbles were deposited.
This was followed by the intense earth movements which uplifted the land
and gave rise to New Zealand's present geography.
Along the 12 kilometres of the Waipoua coastline around 2 million years ago,
sand to the depth of 25-45 metres stretched inland and comprised of moving
dunes and sandy terraces cut by streams and rivers.
Stable sandy topsoil has developed under the kauri forest and scrub
and has low natural fertility with underlying iron and silica pans.
Further inland the sand is mixed with clay. Strongly leached soils,
modified by kauri forest and derived from volcanic rocks, underlie
the plateau forest in the east.
16
West corner, no panel
17
Floristically, Waipoua forest is one of the most diverse areas in Northland.
It also represents New Zealand's largest remaining tract
of mature unmodified kauri forest.
Kauri can occur as a solitary tree, small groups, or in large groves in a
forest dominated in number by other species. The forest however is termed
'Kauri Forest' because of the ecological distinctiveness the kauri gives it.
There are many species which grow in association with kauri.
Dense mature kauri forest usually covers just a few hectares mostly
on poorer upper slopes and ridge tops where light competition with
other species is minimal. However, kauri can occupy a variety of
other sites including wet plateaus and fertile gullies.
The coastal shrublands are fire-induced gumlands, or pakihi, and
contain a variety of gumlands species including sedges, tangle-fern,
Dracophyllums, and many small herbs and orchids. There are also
dense areas of manuka, kanuka, and towai shrublands.
19
Dense kauri forest is commonly associated with dense tussock thicket
of Toikiwi and Kauri grass, Neinei, Towai, Kohekohe, Tawa, Maire,
Tanekaha, Rimo, Miro and sometimes Toatoa, Kawakawa and Manoao.
Towards the coast, kauri is commonly associated with Halls Totara,
Miro and occasional Tanekaha and Rata.
Kauri tolerates poor soil and also drops acid litter which causes further leaching of
soil
minerals. Under dense kauri forest seedlings
often fail to establish until the tree falls. This creates a lightwell
and allows rapid growth of the moribund kauri seedlings.
