Open day at Mt Cargill native park
A CHARITABLE trust that safeguards about 120ha of virgin and regenerating native bush below the summit of Mt Cargill is holding an open day to raise awareness of the initiative.
Dunedin historian Bill Dacker, who is secretary of the ‘‘Initial Volco Trust’’ (IVT), which operates the native park, said it would be open to the public from 11am to 3pm on Saturday.
The trust’s aims were ‘‘to protect virgin and regenerating native bush’’ in properties owned by IVT and ‘‘to encourage good environmental practices’’ and sustainable living in the environment.
The trust safeguarded about 20ha of native cloud forest and other areas of regenerating forest on the Waitati side of the summit.
The open day also sought ‘‘to show friends and interested parties the projects being undertaken and to plant some natives’’.
‘‘We would like to encourage interested individuals and parties to support the work of the trust,’’ he said.
Entry to the park was at 386 Mt Cargill Rd, marked by an orange mailbox.
Visitors would be asked to undertake some further native tree planting, from 11am to 1pm.
Some food would then be provided for lunch and guided walking tours of the area would be offered, he said.
The original enterprise was set up in 1968 by Canadian couple Dorothy and Lloyd Morris, who were keen environmentalists, and the trust was officially formed in 1972.
After opposing construction of a nuclear power plant near their home in Ontario, Canada, they had been travelling in the South Island by motorcycle and sidecar and were injured in an accident near Dunedin.
After leaving hospital and recovering from their injuries, the couple decided to live in Dunedin, he said.