4 HALF-MILLION ACRES KAURI FORESTS. 
It has taken the calamity of this great war to rouse attention to the 
fact that careful demarcation and judicious redemption may still restore 
a large part of the Kauri forests. Kauri seed remains long dormant 
in the ground; Kauri seedlings endure most evils short of being burnt, 
and fire-protection is so easy that it will go with forest-development and 
scarcely be thought of. The task now before the country 1s to build 
up national forest estates by raking into the national net every acre 
of Kauri forest or land where Kauri forests can profitably be restored! 
Two instances where this can be done have come to my notice during 
the past year, and have been represented officially—(1) Mr. McLeod’s 
Terai-o-Rahiri, and (2) a large part of the Tutamoe Forest, where, 
according to the records, grew the largest timber-yielding tree that has 
ever grown in the world, the great Kauri tree called “‘ Kairaru ”’ by 
the Maoris. The first is Maori land obtainable at quite a moderate 
price—a trifle compared to its value as cultivated Kauri forest. The 
second is Government land, part of a larger forest area redeemable on 
easy terms. 

HALF-MILLION ACRES oF KAtrt LAND—CoROMANDEL AND HOKIANGA. 
Kauri, with half a million acres of demarcated forest, could still pay 
the cost of the war—perhaps twice over. 
An energetic policy of demarcation and redemption, put im force 
at once, would find half a million acres of restorable Kauri forest without 
much difficulty. It would mean little more than sixteen times the area 
of the Waipoua Forest. From inquiries which I have made at the Lands 
Department and a study of the coloured land-tenure map (May, 1916) 
issued by the Lands Department, it seems clear that demarcation and 
redemption can certainly secure half a million acres of restorable Kauri 
forest between the following two areas :— 
(1.) Coromandel Peninsula.—The occurrence of much restorable Kauri 
forest here is mentioned at page 55, ‘‘ Waipoua Kauri Forest.”’ Here 
at Cape Colville and on the eastern coast side was the cream of the 
Kauri in Kirk’s time. The mountainous character of the area is well 
known. It is an ideal forest area, with its mountain-streams, bays, 
and inlets from which timber can be taken by sea across the water to 
Auckland. The land is mostly Native or vacant Crown land. Auckland 
should look on the Coromandel Peninsula as the sheet-anchor of its future 
Kauri timber and Kauri “‘ gum’ trade. (See Plate I.) 
Great Barrier Island is naturally in the same position as the moun- 
tainous Coromandel Peninsula; but, unfortunately, most of the land 
is freehold. It should be redeemed as far as possible. 
(2.) Hokianga (North and Fast of the Waipoua and Warawara 
Porests )—The large area of demareatable forest here is referred to in 
Waipona Kauri Forest,’ pp. 51-52. The bulk of the land is ‘‘ public 
reserve, ‘* Native,’’ or “‘ endowment ”’ land, Native land predominat- 
ing. 
In these two areas there lies about a million acres of more or les 
available land, so that the xs in f; 13 1 : A ii 
| e securing of at least half of it for national 
forestry seems assured, 
This half-million acres of forest, after being put into order, is caleu- 
lated eventually to provide about four times the timber in perpetuity 
a is temporarily to the Auckland sawmills from the wild forest 
p. 82). 
