| The turn-off for Trounson Kauri Park (573 hectares) is 32 km north of
Dargaville. There is an easy half-hour walk leading from the parking and
picnic area by the road, passing through beautiful forest with streams and
some fine kauri stands, a couple of fallen kauri trees and the Four
Sisters - two trees each with two trunks. There is a ranger station and
camping in the park.
Guided night-time nature walks are
organised in the area. These excellent, informative walks are reasonably
priced and the guide will explain the flora and nightlife. You might see a
kiwi if you are lucky.
Excerpt from Dargaville and District News:-
The Department of Conservation's Northland Conservancy held a
celebration on 24th May 1998 to mark the anniversary of this region's
first mainland island site.
DOC are extremely pleased with their success in being able to remove
many of the pests and predators in the park, allowing the recovery of
native trees, plants and animals. With the removal of most of the possums
and rats, and large numbers of stoats, weasels, ferrets, cats, the kukupa
(pigeon) is recording an increase in numbers (around 86) and Trounson has
become one of the best kiwi (thought to be around 200) breeding sites in
New Zealand.
The park has also undertaken the first reintroduction of North Island
robins to a mainland site. Similar principles that have been used by DOC
on offshore islands - clearing the environmental nasties and being
off-limit to the public have been used at Trounson. Re-invasion of pests
is always a problem on mainland projects, but because Trounson is
relatively isolated and has no large browsing animals like pig, goats and
deer, it is more easily controlled.
Already home to threatened species such as brown kiwi, kukupa, pekapeka
(bats) banded kokopu and kauri snails, the area has potential for the
re-introduction of other threatened species such as the robin, kokako,
rifleman, Hochstetters frog, lizards, invertebrates and plants like
mistletoe.
The reserve includes apart from kauri, a number of fruiting species
like taraire, tawa, kohekohe, pidgeon wood and podocarps.
Its clear water streams are home to koura, (crayfish) and native
fish-like banded kokopu.
When it was realised that the forestry industry at the time threatened
to destroy large areas of Kauri forest, a 3.34 hectare area was set aside
by the Government in 1890. Early in the century James Trounson gave 22
hectares to what was already set aside, and later sold another 364
hectares of forest to the Government. In 1978, 13 adjoining hectares of
regenerated kauri was donated by Mr E. A. Wrigley, making Trounson Park
one of the finest forest stands in the world.
Trounson Kauri Park is providing valuable information and opportunities
for our, and future generations, to leave the environment in an excellent
condition.
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