A two-year trial for paradise

IN HIS ELEMENT: Dave Panckhurst enjoying the view from the Heaphy Track.

"We'll try it for two years," Dave Panckhurst was heard to say as he arrived at Cooper's Beach in 1992, but he brought with him his lifelong commitment to the environment, and found himself giving the final 20 years of his life to conservation activities in this area that he grew to love so much.

Such a contrast to the wild west coast where he was born.

His interest and passion to make a difference, his scientific background, his quiet leadership, his perseverance to faithfully carry out any task, his ability to always look for the best in every person and situation and his integrity made him a valued member of the many environmental groups he actively supported.

His great love was the Taumarumaru reserve, where a small group of Friends of Taumarumaru cut gorse, kept at bay invasive weeds (winning two 'Weedbuster' awards), planted thousands of native trees (starting with Project Crimson along the foreshore), preserved and honoured archaeological sites, trapped pests, made wooden nesting boxes to encourage the local moreporks, erected weta boxes and carried out a bioblitz in 2009, noting 35 species of birds, 15 species of fern, 135 species of herbs and grasses, eight species of mosses and lichens and 49 species of trees and shrubs.

It was later expanded to cover seashore and stream life.

Other interests that he faithfully supported were Forest and Bird's Arethusa Cottage and wetlands, Project Bird Song in the Bay of Islands, Mangonui and Kerikeri shadehouses, collecting local seeds for propagation, testing the water purity of streams feeding into Doubtless Bay, providing monthly rainfall statistics from Cooper's Beach for the Northland Age, monitoring fish stocks in Mangonui Harbour, the establishment of a marine reserve, planting on Motukawanui Island and around the Waipapakauri lakes, helping the Ornithological Society with bird counts and trapping pests in Kaitaia's Matthews reserve.

He helped get rid of old man's beard from the Rangitane reserve and elsewhere, was part of the eradication of ginger in the Far North, supported the Aroha Island kiwi reserve, was part of the whale rescue team and a member of a number of walking groups.

His greatest dream though was to see the 10th Great Walk develop from Kapuwairua/Spirits Bay around to Te Paki, to honour the spirits of the ancestors and the unique landscape and history of that area.

It deserves this mana. The tail of the fish needs to be strong.