March 19 2010

One of the last stands of indigenous vegetation on the Canterbury Plains was formally opened yesterday.

The reserve is on land once owned by the Harris family and now protected by a QEII Trust covenant.

While forests of kanuka once covered large tracts of land across the Mid Canterbury Plains, intensive farming saw virtually all of this native covering destroyed.

The small block of land in the Maronan area, however, managed to escape the march of progress, with a tiny portion of this still in its virgin state.

The 10.5 hectare block of land is still ringed by the stands of kanuka and members of the Ashburton branch of Forest and Bird Society are replanting the remainder of the land with kanuka plants, grown from seeds from the original plants.

The reserve was gazette in May last year and was officialy given the name Harris Reserve this year by the Ashburton District Council.

 Yesterday's formal opening saw speeches given by Arthur Harris, Dr Brian Molloy from the QEII Trust, representatives of its caretaker the Royal Forest and Bird Society and Ashburton Mayor Bede O'Malley.

The virgin plot also has native snails and lizards that have yet to be counted and charted, as well as a range of native grass species and native clematis. The seeds from the kanuka on the land are deemed to be genetically pure.

More than 500 seedlings have been planted on the block with at least another 1500 to be planted out.

The block was saved from clearing by luck, rather than planning, when an original owner decided to leave a border of kanuka around an open space to provide a sheltered lambing paddock.

The land later came into ownership of the Ashburton District Council, which opted to set 10 hectares of the farm aside as a nature reserve.

 The covenant and the reserve status are designed to protect the plantings, regardless of changes of ownership of the surrounding land.

A community trust, the Ashburton Community Conservation Trust, is in the process of being established to ensure the long term maintenance of the plantings and to apply for grants to fund the project.