Award Nominee

There are five beautiful bush remnants scattered throughout the southern Rangitikei. These bush remnants are constantly bombarded by old man s beard (Clematis vitalba) seeds borne on the wind or by water. Blackberry seedlings appear as if from nowhere. Bittersweet (Solanum dolicmara) scrambles over low-growing native plants, and wandering Jew goes where it will.

Equally as persistent is John Marsh. John has been quietly weedbusting for as long as most of us can remember. Most mornings you will meet John heading off in his ute to spend the day controlling weeds in one of these five bush remnants owned by Rangitikei branch of Forest and Bird.

John and his wife Pixie, raised a young family and farmed at Manganoho, near Ohingaiti. A that time, Spanish heath was spreading rapidly throughout hill-country farmland in the area. A well-to-do family had planted this weed to provide habitat and food for grouse (which they had also liberated!) for shooting. John spent many years clearing Spanish heath from both his own and neighboring farmland, and the road and rail reserves in the area. His approach was an holistic one in which he combined physical and chemicals tools with pasture renewal and fertilizer application. Older farming folk in the area speak with respect of John s battles with Spanish heath, and credit him for keeping this pest from gaining a foothold. To my knowledge, the grouse did not survive, either!

The five reserves managed by Rangitikei Branch Forest and Bird are Pryces Rahui, Laird s, MacPherson s, and Big and Little Sutherland s Bush. The names reflect the farming settlers who gifted the reserves to the branch. The reserves are recognised as regionally significant remnants of flat or river terrace indigenous vegetation. Big Sutherland s is described in the literature as the finest remnant of plains forest in the Turakina area . (White, 1999b. p 22). MacPherson s is described as a beautiful patch of unique podocarp-hardwood forest on a landform type that has been almost completely cleared of vegetation in the rest of the valley . (White, 1999a. p. 20).

Old man s beard is present throughout the Rangitikei district and appears frequently in the reserves and seedlings or small plants. This threat is never realized because of John s diligence in patrolling the reserves and dealing with infestations (White, 1999b). Every six weeks John inspects the Forest and Bird reserves and fills possum bait stations. Pixie often accompanies John on his jaunts into the reserves and will often point out isolated patches of weeds so that John can spray them, or pull them herself.

These days, John continues to work in an holistic manner clearing weeds not only from within the Forest and Bird reserves, but also from surrounding areas such as road and river margins so as to prevent re-infestation. White (1999b) describes the greatest threat to Big Sutherland s reserve as coming from large infestations of old man s beard along the Turakina River. John was involved in a project to control core infestations of old man s beard in the wider Turakina Valley, so as to reduce the long-term threat to the Forest and Bird reserves in this area. For five years, John sought funding in the order of hundreds of thousands of dollars each year to finance aerial spraying of old man s beard. He quietly visited landowner s in the Turakina Valley to talk about the need to manage old man s beard. A positive outcome of this work is the current desire of landowners to commit to controlling old man s beard, whereas previously many had simply ignored it.

The other characteristic of John s approach is that if he sees a problem, he deals with it then and there. No fuss or grandstanding. He just quietly gets on with the job at hand. John s quiet manner also endears him to visitors and groups of children. John has worked with children from Hunterville School, and Kiwi Conservation Club. He also freely gives of his time and knowledge to Massey University students who use the reserves for ecology projects each year.

I am proud to nominate John for a Regional Weedbusters Excellence Award.

John is systematic, persistent and dedicated to preventing weeds from getting a foothold in the Forest & Bird reserves;

There is no doubt that John s work has a positive impact on the environmental values of the Rangitikei by protecting areas of remnant bush with significant values

DOC and Regional Council staff, students and those wanting to practice good weed management regularly seek John s wisdom; and

John is always willing to show visitors through the reserves and works with groups of children from Hunterville School and KCC to raise awareness of weed management.

- Hilary Webb, Horizons Regional Council (nominator)