The Jim Barnett Reserve at Waotu is alive and flourishing. About 15 years of community work has been a significant factor in its survival.
Gordon Stephenson is Chair of the Jim Barnett Reserve Committee. “The original name of the bush at the reserve is He Waotu Tahi Nga Rakau. It means the tall forest that stood by itself. It refers to the bush that was protected by a hill so it survived the big volcanic eruption of 186 AD.”
Hoping to improve
The reserve is a 20 minute drive from Tokoroa in South Waikato. It is over 16ha plus 7ha of private forest included within the fences. Extensive logging took place from the late 1890s to around 1920 and many high quality matai, rimu and totara were extracted. However a forest dominated by tawa survived.
When the council bought the land from the Barnett family in 1992 it was all set for rapid recovery. To the casual observer the tall mature forest shows few signs of earlier logging, except for the occasional old stump and the evidence of the tramway once used for taking the logs out.
“Since 1993 we have planted thousands of native trees,” says Gordon. “There has been a huge input by volunteers from Forest & Bird, among others. We are pleased to say we now have fantastic bird life here with many kereru, tui and bell birds. For some strange reason the North Island robins we reintroduced in 2001 didn’t want to settle down here but we are hoping to improve this with the help of the nearby Maungatautari Ecological Reserve.”
Community work parties have played a large part in the conservation of the Jim Barnett Reserve from the start. “Over time the offenders have completed a fence surrounding the area,” says Gordon. “A lot of heavy work has been completed, including putting up fences to progressively enclose new tree plantings. They have also cut through bush to make tracks. We have a toilet at each end of the reserve and water laid on. It is now a quality public recreational asset.”
Service Manager Dave Rennie says: ”For many years the Jim Barnett Reserve was the pet project of long serving Community Work Supervisor the late Doug Gooding. He was a keen conservationist and lover of the great outdoors. Doug ensured the Reserve maintained its place near the top of Tokoroa Community Work Centre’s ‘priority jobs list’. Since Doug’s passing in 2007 enthusiasm for this project has been staunchly maintained by Community Work Supervisor John Shannon.”
Committed
“The community work parties have done really well,” says Gordon. “They are very much into it. They call it ‘our’ project – that says something about their level of commitment. Over the years I have certainly noticed more and more visitors enjoying the reserve. I don’t think this would have been possible without the support of the work parties.”
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ISSN 1178-1327