A management plan for Kowhai Bush, Kaikoura (Marlborough, N.Z.)

Abstract

The majority of this report comprises a management plan for Kowhai Bush, an area of native forest within the Kowhai River Protection Reserve, Kaikoura (Marlborough, New Zealand).

Much of the management plan is descriptive, and includes an outline of the history of the Reserve and an account of the flora and fauna of the forest. The value of the forest for uses other than river control is examined; this leads to a discussion of the problems associated with current management of the Reserve.

The Marlborough Catchment Board has control of the Kowhai Reserve, and is sympathetic to the biological values of the forest. However, the Board regards river protection as the principal objective of management, with other uses being accommodated if compatible with river control. Planning for management of the Reserve has proceeded on this basis.

Multiple-objective planning is considered a preferable approach to management of the Kowhai Reserve. To assist in the initiation of such planning, this management plan identifies desirable objectives for management and proposes a ranking of these objectives. It is suggested that wildlife conservation and river control are first-priority objectives of equal importance, with scientific research and education of secondary importance. Recreation is classed as a third-priority objective. Following the ranking of objectives, the management plan suggests guidelines for achieving a balance of uses in the Reserve.

In the preface to the management plan some limitations of current provisions for the administration of natural resources in New Zealand are discussed. The ideas presented in this discussion underlie the recommendations relating to the administration of the Kowhai Reserve which are made in the final section of the management plan. Multiple-objective management of Kowhai Bush requires input of a wide range of expertise in the planning process, and a broadening of activities which Catchment Boards may finance.