Project Crimson Loses Sponsor

By Glen Prentice New Zealand's richest man has pulled the plug on sponsorship for a project to save the pohutukawa, a decision the Department of Conservation says could have huge implications for Northland. The Project Crimson Trust has been funding schemes to boost pohutukawa and rata numbers throughout New Zealand since 1990, sponsored by forestry company Carter Holt Harvey. The project was set up after a survey revealed large chunks of coastal pohutukawa had been destroyed by possums, fires and farming _ with Northland one of the worst affected regions. The trust has helped to significantly boost tree numbers in depleted areas. But after Carter Holt Harvey was taken over by billionaire Graeme Hart, the company decided to end its 16-year sponsorship. Despite that Project Crimson Trust director Bridget Abernethy said it would be business as usual. She was confident a new sponsor would be found before the end of the year. ``There is no risk at all to any of the projects that we fund throughout the country,'' Ms Abernethy said. ``Project Crimson is in very good heart.'' She said Carter Holt Harvey had indicated it would support the trust until a new sponsor was found. DOC community relations officer Lynnie Gibson said the trust funded 300 new trees a year in the Whangarei District alone. ``It's been hugely important for the whole of the region,'' she said. Apart from funding DOC's regeneration schemes the trust also provided seedlings to the public. ``It would be a huge loss if we can't get another sponsor.'' Ms Gibson was critical of Carter Holt Harvey's decision, saying its sponsorship had been innovative and an example of big business giving something back to the community. ``This seems to be very narrow-minded thinking. It was one of those projects which was turning the coast red again.'' The company is refusing to comment. Ms Gibson said despite the good work to date, a lot of coastline still needed replanting. Carter Holt Harvey's decision did not affect the Whangarei District Council's planting programme, which receives funding from the Marsden Point oil refinery and is supported by the Whangarei Native Forest and Bird Protection Society. Society member Marge Maddren said she hoped another sponsor could be found quickly. ``If money doesn't come that way I suppose it's got to come from our rates if it is to continue,'' she said. However, she said Carter Holt Harvey had given generous support over the years. ``Perhaps he (Graeme Hart) thinks he has done his bit,'' she said. Ironically _ despite all the efforts to replant pohutukawa on Northland's coast _ there is no protection for the trees on private land, which can be cut down at will. The Whangarei District Council has proposed changing its District Plan to protect coastal pohutukawa taller than 6m or with a girth of more than 1.5m. The proposal will go out for public submission in the next few months. In April an Urquhart's Bay landowner felled a pair of pohutukawa, one of which was thought to to be more than 200 years old.