Protecting ancient, living giants

Whangarei’s much loved AH Reed Memorial Park tracks will be closed on Friday while a new cleaning station is installed to protect its kauri trees from dieback disease.

WDC Parks and Recreation Technical Officer Stuart Jackson said A H Reed Memorial Park is a magnificent remnant of the original Northland kauri forest.

“Visitors (including wheelchair users) can walk along a raised walkway through a forest canopy of maturing kauri trees known to be at least 500 years old. It is a rare and special situation and we want to ensure people can experience it for generations to come. To achieve that we need to protect the trees that are there.”

Mr Jackson said the existing barrel-and-grate hygiene station at the entrance to the park (off Whareora Road) will be replaced entirely by a high-tech boot cleaning station donated by the Department of Conservation.

“Whangarei District Council, Northland Regional Council and DoC and the manufacturers MW design and contractors NZ Trackwork are all pitching in together on this and using it as part of a Northland training programme to install these stations.

“We all want to protect our trees, not just for their own sake and all the benefits that come from a thriving ecology, but so that people can enjoy them too. Recent events have made us all realise how fragile a privilege it is to be able to walk among these ancient, living giants. We want to protect them.”

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