Many people are surprised when they learn that kiwi can thrive in pine forests. The truth is, kiwi can live just about anywhere, as long as there’s adequate shelter, food, water, and protection from predators. Native forest, pasture, grassland, sand dunes, snow... and, that’s right, plantation forests can all be suitable habitats.
Craig Balsom, Save the Kiwi forestry specialist, recently visited Rosewarne’s Crew 83 in Summit Forest’s Whangapoua Forest to present a training session about how to identify if kiwi are present in pine blocks during harvest. Crew 83 is harvesting an area adjacent to Summit’s biodiversity block which is inhabited by, among other wildlife, Coromandel brown kiwi.
The crew mentioned that they had noticed an abundance of native birds while they were working, especially tūī and kererū. This is a direct result of the steps taken to protect and enhance an existing population of kiwi in the Summit’s biodiversity block, especially their ongoing predator control regime. The work that is going on there not only helps to protect kiwi, but it also helps other native flora and fauna to flourish and then disperse into neighbouring areas.
He was also lucky enough to spend a large part of last summer on Ahuahu/Great Mercury Island. Approximately 600 hectares of the southern end of Ahuahu is covered in mature pine forest surrounded largely by regenerating native coastal forest. In 2013, the owners of Ahuahu and the Department of Conservation worked together to eradicate mice, rats and cats, and in 2016 the island was awarded pest-free status. Sheep and cattle were also excluded from the pine forest and regenerating coastal forest around the same time. Combined, this has allowed for some amazing gains for native biodiversity in and around the plantation forest.
The native understory that flourishes beneath the pine canopy is a manual tree faller’s nightmare, but it is incredible to see and hear the plethora of bird and insect life it supports, he says. Tīeke/ saddleback, kākāriki and kākā – just to name a few – are in abundance. Although the plantation forest on Ahuahu will not be harvested, what is happening there is proof that exotic species plantations, if managed sensibly, can provide exceptional habitat for our native species and still be productive commercial forests.
To read more from Craig Balsom, get your copy of the May 2024 edition of NZ Logger magazine, on sale from 6 May. Check the link on this page to subscribe to either a printed or digital copy (or both).
