Carter Scenic Reserve
This area of swamp and semi-swamp forest on two old terraces of the Ruamahanga River represents a patchwork landscape that was once typical of the Wairarapa - grass, wetland, shrubland, and forest. On the edges of the wetland where drainage improves, kahikatea forest changes to titoki with scattered kahikatea and matai. Totara occurs on the drier terrace slopes.
Carter Scenic Reserve
That this beautiful area is able to be appreciated by present and future generations is down to the foresight of pioneering landowner Charles Rooking Carter who, in 1896, made provision in his will for the protection of part of his estate. It was gazetted as a reserve in 1921.
Because Carter Reserve offers such a variety of habitat types, it became a haven for some of the plants and animals that became extinct or reduced to low numbers through land clearance in the Wairarapa Plains during the 1880s and 1900s. They include brown mud fish which get through the dry summers by digging down a metre or so into the mud and sleeping.
In recent years, a change in local water patterns has altered the flow in this delicate ecosystem, resulting in the death of kahikatea and totara.
Land clearance also resulted in an infestation of weeds throughout the reserve, with garden escapees posing a significant threat to the ecosystems there.
The Department of Conservation is working hard to turn the tide, eradicating weeds and re-populating the area with endangered species. An ambitious programme put in place over recent years is now showing encouraging results.
Tree lucerne planted in weed infested areas in 1982, now provide food and perching positions for birds which in turn deposit large amounts of native tree seeds in the area. The trees also shade the area and suppress further growth of weed species as well as providing protection for young native tree seedlings
Coprosma pedicellata
Hardy native trees such as tarata lemonwood, totara and a variety of pittosporum have been planted among the tree lucerne.
Rare tree species that once thrived in this area are being propagated and reintroduced among these regenerating forests. They include Coprosma pedicellata, a small leafed plant that grows in areas that are very wet in the winter and very dry in summer. Classified as chronically threatened, in gradual decline, it is being propagated and replanted into the reserve in a restoration project.
back to top