Regeneration of native forest on Hinewai Reserve, Banks Peninsula

Abstract One thousand hectares in the south-east sector of Banks Peninsula are being managed for the protection and restoration of native vegetation and wildlife under a policy of minimum interference. The probable pre-human vegetation cover (1000 yr B.P.), inferred from current evidence and some historical records, was continuous forest, c. 55% of it podo-carp/hardwood forest and 45% Nothofagus forest. About 4% of this old-growth forest survives. The remaining area is a diverse mosaic of successional vegetation. Approximately 30% of the total area is closed-canopy second-growth native forest. About 53% is under scrub of naturalised gorse (Ulex europaeus) and broom (Cytisus scoparius). The remaining 13% is under pasture, fernland, and native tussockland. The predicted cover 50 years hence, assuming that fire can be excluded, is 95% second-growth native forest, 4% old-growth forest, and 1% tussock, shrubland, and scrub which will persist on bluffs. Successional pathways are diverse, involving both native a...