HELP SAVE OUR G&TS!

There’s a burgeoning local gin industry in New Zealand, but the juniper berries used in it are imported (mainly from Macedonia and Albania) where they are hand harvested from wild trees. But some juniper populations in the northern hemisphere are under threat from disease, political unrest, urbanisation and climate change. Those in southern England are believed to have decreased by 60-70 per cent, according to some reports.

So an ambitious citizen scientist project has been launched by Massey University scientists, working with two local producers Juno Gin from Taranaki and Reefton Distilling Co from the West Coast, to identify and locate common juniper ( Juniperus communis) shrubs and trees with the long-term aim of establishing a commercial plantation to supply juniper berries for our homegrown gin industry.

“We learned from an initial study that there are a number of juniper trees scattered around New Zealand,” says Dave James of Juno Gin. “To establish a commercial plantation, we need to locate and propagate from as many mature trees and shrubs as possible, in order to have the genetic diversity for a viable population.”

Junipers will be found in gardens and parks, but because the seeds are dispersed by birds, some wild plantations are likely to be found in both North and South Island. If you think you have found one, visit inaturalist.org/projects/the-greatnew-zealand-juniper-hunt to post your observations (the site will be monitored by Massey).

“But keep in mind with Juniperus communis that the plants are very variable in form and can range from flat spreading shrub to a tree,” says Massey scientist Talon Sneddon who is managing the hunt. “Other morphological characteristics such as the leaf length and cone size can vary as well. Even our scientists have been duped by some junipers they have encountered in the field.”