THE Masterton A&P; Association has been granted a covenant by the Queen Elizabeth II National Trust over the native bush reserve at Solway Showgrounds.
The reserve is one of the last remaining remnants of a once extensive forest in lowland areas that covered much of the lower half of the North
Island.
What also makes the reserve special is the Dick Seddon tree, a massive kahikatea that towers over the native forest at Solway Showgrounds and is where Prime Minister Richard Seddon spoke at a Liberal Party New Year picnic in the 1880s.
The tree was left when the bush around it was cleared and was then made part of the Renall Solway Estate.
When the reserve was gifted to become the Solway Showgrounds, the tree still survived and today stands tall on a rise about 200m behind the grandstand.
The association's president, Craig MacKay, said the covenant meant that the reserve would now be protected in perpetuity, and there would also be help with fencing from both the trust and Wellington Regional Council.
"It's great news," Mr MacKay said. We can now get on with upgrading and preserving this unique piece of lowland forest."
He said that in the medium term, the association wanted to see the reserve made available to the public and particularly school groups for both recreational and educational purposes.
The trust's regional representative, David Marsh, who worked on the proposal to the trust, said the 2.5ha urban forest remnant, was typical of the original podocarp-broadleaved forest that would have been extensive on the alluvial plains of the Wairarapa plains ecological district.
It comprised a range of species including totara, kahikatea and pukatea over a mixed canopy of titoki, tawa, tree ferns, cabbage tree and kowhai.
It also had a high ecological value because so little of this type of forest now remained in New Zealand and this particular reserve was recognised as a key natural area in the Wellington region, and with significant value as an educational resource with its close proximity to Masterton.
