Come up the Kāpiti Coast to Ngā Manu Nature Reserve. There you’ll find puriri, always in flower or currently dripping with fruit, laden with tui and kereru. They’re hard to grow from seed though.
Ah Melanie, what a lovely reminisce. I too had a 'bottom field' at school in the UK. It was out of bounds but endlessly fascinating because of the bomb crater which had become a pond full of wild life. I remember many play breaks peering over the steep edges to observe newts, frogs, dragonflies and all manner of pond life. It was magical and I can still hear, smell and feel it. It sparked my imagination as I wove stories to explain its murky depths and the abundant life within. We were often chastised for being out of bounds because we inevitably ended up wet and muddy - a telltale sign of our transgressions, but it didn't keep us away! I grieve the loss of such treasures for today's children.
That's so wonderful - ponds are just the best. The freedom to muck about in nature like that was wonderful, I'm so glad you disobeyed and got to enjoy it!
Im loving the infographic drawings, thank you Melanie! What are your thoughts on the Miyawaki method forests? I hear there is one under way in Wainuiomata.
Thank you, I'm glad you are enjoying them. I hadn't heard of the concept and so I looked it up. At first glance, I'd say it's very applicable somewhere like Wellington and is probably broadly consistent with other work going on, for example predator and weed control by community groups. It would benefit biodiversity but also things like water quality in streams and the harbour.
I think it would work in other New Zealand cities and towns as well, as long as there were groups keen to get involved. However, I wouldn't want to see it take resources from large areas of intact native forest, because small fragments, no matter how many there are, can't replace the value of large areas of contiguous forest - there are species which just can't take the fragmentation. This is my concern about Predator Free 2050, because we've put a lot of resources into urban conservation but allowed some forest which was reasonably intact to degrade to a catastropic state in some remote areas but failing to control the invasive species (not only predators).
As someone who is also passionate about Australian plants and animals, I have to say that it would probably be a disaster there, because most of their ecosystems require fire to function and I'm not sure whether that could be managed. If there were lots of unburned fragments in Australian cities it would make them more vulnerable.
Trees or anything in nature always sparks the creative mind in my experience. Great memory!
Absolutely. I was so lucky to have that amazing creative space as a child, and I'm delighted it's still there even if the old pūriri isn't.
Come up the Kāpiti Coast to Ngā Manu Nature Reserve. There you’ll find puriri, always in flower or currently dripping with fruit, laden with tui and kereru. They’re hard to grow from seed though.
I'll make sure I do soon.
Ah Melanie, what a lovely reminisce. I too had a 'bottom field' at school in the UK. It was out of bounds but endlessly fascinating because of the bomb crater which had become a pond full of wild life. I remember many play breaks peering over the steep edges to observe newts, frogs, dragonflies and all manner of pond life. It was magical and I can still hear, smell and feel it. It sparked my imagination as I wove stories to explain its murky depths and the abundant life within. We were often chastised for being out of bounds because we inevitably ended up wet and muddy - a telltale sign of our transgressions, but it didn't keep us away! I grieve the loss of such treasures for today's children.
That's so wonderful - ponds are just the best. The freedom to muck about in nature like that was wonderful, I'm so glad you disobeyed and got to enjoy it!
Im loving the infographic drawings, thank you Melanie! What are your thoughts on the Miyawaki method forests? I hear there is one under way in Wainuiomata.
Thank you, I'm glad you are enjoying them. I hadn't heard of the concept and so I looked it up. At first glance, I'd say it's very applicable somewhere like Wellington and is probably broadly consistent with other work going on, for example predator and weed control by community groups. It would benefit biodiversity but also things like water quality in streams and the harbour.
I think it would work in other New Zealand cities and towns as well, as long as there were groups keen to get involved. However, I wouldn't want to see it take resources from large areas of intact native forest, because small fragments, no matter how many there are, can't replace the value of large areas of contiguous forest - there are species which just can't take the fragmentation. This is my concern about Predator Free 2050, because we've put a lot of resources into urban conservation but allowed some forest which was reasonably intact to degrade to a catastropic state in some remote areas but failing to control the invasive species (not only predators).
As someone who is also passionate about Australian plants and animals, I have to say that it would probably be a disaster there, because most of their ecosystems require fire to function and I'm not sure whether that could be managed. If there were lots of unburned fragments in Australian cities it would make them more vulnerable.
Thanks for this Melanie. Lots of good thoughts and because it's free I'll certainly repost. Only the very best things in life are free
Thank you so much.
I continue to love your drawings. I also enjoyed your childhood memories.
Thank you. I'm planning lots more drawings.
I love your illustrations, too!
Thanks, I'm having fun with them!