November 19, 1908] 



NA TURE 



THE PRESERVATION OF THE NATIVE 

 FAUNA AND FLORA IN AUSTRALASIA. 

 \ \ / E are glad to see that the New Zealand Goverii- 

 ' nient is actively continuing the work of pre- 

 servinj,' the natural scenery of the dominion to which 

 we directed attention last year. Some interesting par- 

 ticulars are given in the Report on Scenery Preserva- 

 tion fi,ir the year 1907-8 lately issued by the Depart- 

 ment of Lands, from which it is evident that the 

 authorities fully appreciate the value of the remark- 

 able natural attractions for which the Dominion is 

 so justly famous. During the year under review an 

 addition of more than 8000 acres was made to the 

 area reserved under the .Scenery Preservation and 

 I'ublic Works .Vets. This area now reaches a total 

 of about 34,000 acres, exclusive of 100,000 acres of 

 Crown land similarly reserved under the Land Act. 



The public of New Zealand appears to be as much 

 interested in the good work as the Government, con- 

 siderable sums havinja; been raised by subscription for 

 the purchase of special areas in the neighbourhood 

 of some of the large towns. Let us hope that they 

 will not forget to reserve a sufficient belt along the 

 coast-line, so that future generations may be pro- 

 tected from attempts on the part of grasping land- 

 lords to prevent the public from making full use of 

 the seashore, such as have lately given rise to so 

 much dissatisfaction in our own country. 



The proper care of the areas reserved appears to 

 be a matter of no little trouble and expense. Where 

 they are covered with forest there is the constantlv 

 recurring danger of bush-fires and damage by stock. 

 As the inspector of scenic reserves remarks in his 

 report, swaggers and Maoris appear to set fire to the 

 country as if they were inspired by a spirit of destruc- 

 tion, and settlers, in clearing their own lands, are 

 indifferent to the damage their fires may cause by 

 spreading on to the lands of the Crown. 



One of the most beneficial results of the reserva- 

 tion of these large areas of native bush is seen in 

 the preservation from destruction of the native birds. 

 We quote again from the subsidiary report of Mr. 

 F,. Phillips Turner, the inspector of scenic reserves : — 



" In the Canterbury reserves I found that the native 



Ills (with the e.xccption of the tui, which in Akaroa is 

 ^lill fairly plentiful) are getting very scarce. In Otago the 

 larger size of the reserves has served as a more eltectiial 

 sanctuary, and tuis, bell-birds, and tomtits were fairly 

 plentiful, whilst fantails, robins, wrens, parraUeets, kakas, 

 and pigeons were also seen." 



The author of the main report is, we think, rather 

 unnecessarily severe upon the New Zealand botanists. 

 .\fter very properly directing attention to " the in- 

 teresting and valuable report on a botanical survey 

 of the Tongariro National Park, by Dr. Cockayne," 

 he observes : — 



" Nowhere in the world are such beautiful and rare 

 plants and trees to be found as in New Zealand, and the 

 time is not far distant when this will be widely recog- 

 nised, and visitors from abroad will undertake wh.nt our 

 own students have overlooked." 



It is only a few months since we had occasion to 

 notice an extremely interesting and beautifully illus- 

 trated work on the New Zealand flora bv two local 

 botanists,' and it seems to us that a surprising amount 

 of good work of this kind has been done bv New 

 Zealand students; witness the valuable publications 

 of the New Zealand Institute during the past thirty 

 or forty years. There are not many people in New 

 Zealand who ran afford to devote their lives to such 

 work gratuitously, but we have little doubt that if 

 the New Zealand Government extended to local 



1 Laing and Blaclcwell, " Plants of New Zealand." 

 NO. 2038, VOL. 79] 



naturalists sufficient encouragement, there would be 

 no lack of competent investigators eager to enter the 

 field. If the "visitors from abroad" are able to 

 undertake the work, it is largely on account of the 

 generous assistance and encouragement which thev 

 receive both from the authorities in their own countrv 

 and those in New Zealand. 



The report is again copiously illustrated by photo- 

 graphs of some of the more remarkable scenery, one of 

 which, taken on the Wanganui River, we reproduce. 

 This river is said to have " no equal in the world as 

 regards its botanical and scenic attractions," and the 

 photographs certainly gu a long way to support the 

 claim. 



Two reports by Dr. Cockayne, lately published by 

 the New Zealand Department of Lands, have also 

 reached us, the one referred to above as a botanical 

 survey of the Tongariro National Park, and the other 

 as a botanical survey of the W'aiporra Kauri Forest. 

 These are also copiously illustrated by excellent photo- 



graphs, and should prove of great interest to botanists 

 all over the world. The report on the Tongariro 

 National Park contains an extremely interesting 

 chapter on the geology of this remarkable volcanic 

 district, bv Mr. R. Speight. The photograph of the 

 summit of Mount Ruapehu, showing a hot and some- 

 times boiling lake surrounded by ice-cliffs, is par- 

 ticularly striking. 



\\'e further observe with much satisfaction that the 

 various societies interested in natural history in the 

 Commonwealth of Australia are making a vigorous 

 and combined effort to arouse the Federal Govern- 

 ment to a full sense of its responsibilities with regard 

 to the preservation of the native fauna. The move- 

 ment which has lately taken place in England in 

 relation to the protection of birds, and which cul- 

 minated in Lord .-Vvebury's Bill, appears to be largely 

 responsible for the renewed interest which is being 



