Northland regeneration

Northland regeneration

Dean Baigent-Mercer approached us for finance to purchase a block of land in the Far North to pursue his interest in native forest restoration and permaculture development. Dean has had a long-standing interest in conservation of New Zealand’s native environment. 

This is amply demonstrated by his direct involvement over the past decade in rainforest restoration and preservation of threatened plant species and his work as a freelance and staff conservation writer for Forest and Bird.  More recently he had worked for as communications officer for Greenpeace NZ.

In his application Dean explained that he had held "an evolving dream" for at least 10 years to put the plan outlined below into action. It has taken him that long to find a block of land with a mix of native forest, orchard space and a good stream running through it that is at the same time affordable.

The block of land that caught Dean's attention was inland from Kaeo and included 21 ha of native forest and 3.7 ha of north-facing rolling farmland. The native forest had been logged for Kauri 80 years ago but much of it is still intact and relatively healthy. The canopy consists of northern rata, taraire and puriri - some of which appear to be over 300 years old.

Dean reported that the forest is too healthy to have goats or pigs and the DoC has culled nearly all the wild deer in Northland. However, there is little control of other pests and so he plans to trap possums, rodents and mustelids. He also plans to consult with DoC ecologists about the possibility of reintroducing some at-risk plant species into the forest. The forest has a resident population of regionally endangered kukupa (kereru) and Dean sees it as a potential habitat for the threatened North Island brown kiwi.

His plan for the 3.7 ha of currently cattle-grazed farmland is to gradually convert it into growing organic fruit and vegetables using permaculture principles. In particular, he is keen to plant an orchard of heritage fruit trees (subtropical orchard and pip fruit) and use heirloom vegetable varieties in the garden.

We thoroughly endorse Dean's ambitions with regard to this block of land and were very pleased to receive and approve his loan application. We wish him every success with his plans and hope that he has many willing friends and colleagues to help him with the planting and pest control work.