Victoria Forest Park facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Victoria Forest Park
Victoria Forest Park Location in New Zealand
Location	South Island, New Zealand
Nearest city	Greymouth / Westport
Area	206,899 hectares (511,260 acres)
Governing body	Department of Conservation

Victoria Forest Park is a huge natural area on the West Coast of the South Island in New Zealand. It's the biggest forest park in New Zealand, covering about 2,069 square kilometers. The Department of Conservation (DOC) looks after this special park.

The park is mostly made up of beautiful beech forests. You can find all five types of beech trees that grow in New Zealand here: red, silver, mountain, black, and hard beech. The park also includes the Inangahua, Maruia, and Grey Rivers, plus the Victoria and Brunner mountain ranges. Reefton is the main town nearby, located on the park's southwestern edge. Reefton used to be a town for coal and gold mining, so you can still find old mining equipment scattered around the park.

Why Victoria Forest Park is Special

During the 1970s, many people wanted to protect New Zealand's forests. This led to the creation of fourteen forest parks. Victoria Forest Park finally got this special protection in 1981.

Amazing Nature and Wildlife

Victoria Forest Park is mostly covered in beech forests. These forests are the largest natural forest type left in New Zealand. They often grow on mountains, which means they weren't cleared for farming. These beech forests are super important for many plants and animals.

For example, three types of mistletoe plants depend on the beech trees to survive. These include crimson mistletoe (Peraxilla colensoi), red mistletoe (Peraxilla tetrapetala), and Alepis flavida. Sadly, all three are at risk of disappearing because possums like to eat them.

Beech forests also support tiny insects called scale insects. These insects live on the bark of beech trees and drink their sap. Then, they produce a sweet liquid called honeydew. This honeydew is a vital food source for native birds like tui, bellbirds, and kaka. Victoria Forest Park is a home for many different animals, and we'll learn about some of them below.

Park Animals

Bellbird (Anthonis melanura)

Bellbirds live in native forests, including beech forests. They used to be common all over New Zealand. However, their numbers dropped a lot when new predators like ship rats and stoats arrived. These predators still keep bellbird numbers low today. Bellbirds are important because they help pollinate many native New Zealand plants, especially mistletoes, fuchsia, and kowhai.

Kaka (Nestor meridionalis)

The kaka is a forest parrot. It was once found everywhere in New Zealand, but its numbers have gone down a lot in the last 100 years. This is because of the many mammal predators. When beech trees produce a lot of seeds, which happens every few years, predator numbers go up. This is also the only time kaka try to breed, making it harder for them. Kaka also have to compete with wasps and possums for the sweet honeydew from scale insects in the beech forests.

Blue Duck/Whio (Hymenolaimus malacorhynchos)

The blue duck is one of only six types of waterfowl that live permanently in rivers. You can find them in the rivers of Victoria Forest Park and other parts of New Zealand. They mostly eat small water insects. Blue duck numbers have also decreased over the last 100 years. This is due to predators brought by humans and the destruction of their river homes.

Tomtit (Petroica macrocephala)

The South Island tomtit is a small, common native forest bird. It lives in different types of forests and shrub lands on the South Island. Male tomtits are mostly black and white, while females are brown and white. The biggest danger to tomtits is introduced mammals. Tomtits often nest in holes, which makes them easy prey because they can't escape quickly from predators.

Great Spotted Kiwi (Apteryx haastii)

The great spotted kiwi is not as widespread in New Zealand as it once was. There are thought to be about 22,000 of them on the South Island. However, very few are believed to be left in Victoria Forest Park. It's estimated that their population has dropped by about 30% since Europeans arrived. It's thought that stoats and possums have made great spotted kiwi move to higher, colder places. These areas might be less appealing to predators. Videos show stoats and possums entering kiwi nests. Adult kiwi can usually fight them off, but predators still manage to eat some eggs.

Rock Wren (Xenicus gilviventris)

Small numbers of rock wren have been seen in Victoria Forest Park. The rock wren is listed as "Nationally Vulnerable" in New Zealand. It's a small bird that feeds on the ground and lives above the tree line on the South Island. Because they live in such a tough environment, not much scientific study has been done on them. Mice and stoats are known to eat rock wren eggs and young birds. This is because rock wrens don't fly well and feed on the ground, making them easy targets.

Powelliphanta Snails

There are at least 21 species and 51 types of Powelliphanta snails. Forty of these are threatened, and they are only found in New Zealand. They are the largest snails in the world, growing up to 90 millimeters (about 3.5 inches) across! These snails are carnivores, meaning they eat other animals, mostly earthworms.

Western Weka (Gallirallus australia)

The western weka is the most common type of weka, but it's still considered vulnerable. It's a large bird that cannot fly. Attempts were made to move them to offshore islands, but this didn't work well because they ended up harming other native animals there.

Kea Bird (Nestor notabilis)

The kea is a vulnerable bird species found along the west coast of New Zealand's South Island. It's the world's only alpine parrot, meaning it lives in mountain areas. Because kea nest on the ground, many of their nests are attacked by predators during breeding season.

Yellow-crowned Parakeet (Cyanoramphus auriceps)

The yellow-crowned parakeet is a rare type of parakeet found on the North and South Islands of New Zealand, including in beech forests. They used to be common. However, in the 1800s, large numbers of them would eat farmers' grain and fruit crops. Because of this, farmers saw them as pests and shot them.

Park Plants

Crimson Mistletoe (Peraxilla colensoi) and Red Mistletoe (Peraxilla tetrapetala)

Various types of mistletoe are found all over New Zealand. In Victoria Forest Park, you can find crimson mistletoe and red mistletoe, both of which are threatened. Studies show that mistletoe numbers have gone down across New Zealand. This is likely because of brush-tail possums, fewer birds to pollinate and spread seeds, and too much collecting by people. Some mistletoe species are pollinated by insects, but most rely on birds to spread their seeds. Possums also eat the leaves of mistletoes, sometimes so much that the plants die.

Dangers to the Park

Introduced Animals

Before humans arrived in New Zealand, the only mammals were three types of bats. But since humans came about 900 years ago, at least 31 types of mammals have started living in the wild in New Zealand. The kiore (Rattus exulans) arrived with the first Polynesian settlers. Three more species came with European settlers between 1770 and 1890. Stoats (Mustela ermine), weasels (M. nivalis), and ferrets (M. furo) were set free in the 1880s to try and control rabbits (Orycto-lagus cuniculus). Pet cats (Felis catus) also arrived with European settlers. All these new animals have caused a huge drop in the numbers of native New Zealand birds.

Victoria Forest Park is mostly beech forest, which is an important safe place for native birds. In the summers after beech trees produce a lot of seeds (which happens every 4-6 years), the numbers of insects, mice (Mus musculus), and stoats grow very quickly. When there's a lot of beech tree seeds, the mouse population explodes. This then causes the stoat population to explode too. Stoats are the most common mammal predators in South Island beech forests. So, when a lot of seeds are expected, park managers get ready for a time of increased danger for the birds. In beech forests, birds like mohua, kaka, robins, bellbirds, and blue ducks are all at risk from stoats after these seed-fall increases.

Most New Zealand birds nest in holes. This makes them much more vulnerable to predators than other species. They haven't evolved ways to avoid these new predators. Here's why they are so vulnerable:

• They nest in holes with only one entrance. This means the parent bird cannot escape if a predator enters.
• Predation can lead to fewer females, as only the females sit on the eggs.
• Native birds take longer to hatch their eggs than most introduced birds.
• Native bird chicks are noisier in the nest, which attracts predators.

Wasps (Vespula spp.)

The German wasp (Vespula germanica) and the common wasp (Vespula vulgaris) were brought to New Zealand. They have had a very bad effect on native New Zealand species. Beech forests, like those in Victoria Forest Park, are full of scale insects that make a sugary liquid. Wasps compete with native nectar-eating birds and insects for this sweet liquid. This means there's much less honeydew available for native species. In New Zealand's beech forests, the total weight of wasps is thought to be more than the combined weight of birds, rodents, and stoats! It's estimated that wasps reduce the honeydew by over 90%. They also eat a lot of native insects.

Possums (Trichosurus vulpecula)

Common brushtail possums cause a lot of harm to native species in Victoria Forest Park's beech forests. They compete for nectar, fruit, and seeds. They also push native birds out of their nests and eat their eggs. However, there are fewer possums in South Island beech forests compared to other types of native forests in New Zealand. Even with lower numbers, possums have been found to severely damage mistletoe. They could even cause these plants to disappear from local areas.

Mining in the Park

The town of Reefton, near Victoria Forest Park, started as a gold and coal mining town in the 1880s. Because of this, you can still find old mining equipment throughout the park. Some mining is still happening in Victoria Forest Park today. In 1993, a company called GRD Macraes was allowed to mine on a 107-hectare area. They were given permission for a pit, a place to store waste, and a pile of waste rock. Since then, the mining area has grown to 170 hectares. GRD Macraes has asked many times to make the mining area and production even bigger, but these requests have been turned down. In April 2014, the park got public attention when the government allowed new oil and gas exploration permits there.

Animals That Are Gone or Very Rare

Many native animals have lost their homes or gone extinct because of introduced mammals. Since Europeans arrived and brought new mammal species, native bird species have been greatly affected. This is because their natural habits make them much more vulnerable than species that grew up with these types of predators. As a result, about 49% of New Zealand's unique non-marine birds are now extinct. Even though Victoria Forest Park has been mostly untouched, the native animals inside it are not safe from these problems. Several species have gone extinct or are no longer found in the Victoria Park Region. Here are just a few:

• Yellowhead (mōhua) (Mohoua ochrocephala) used to be common all over the South Island. Now, they are only found in the south of the South Island and a few small, separate spots in the north. They no longer live in Victoria Forest Park.
• The red-crowned parakeet (Cyanoramphus novaezelandiae) was a common bird on both the North and South Islands. But now, it's almost extinct on the main islands. However, it is still common on several offshore islands.
• The South Island kokako lived in most parts of the South Island until around the 1880s. Its numbers dropped quickly because of rats and stoats. It is now thought to be extinct. However, it's possible that a few might still survive in remote parts of the South Island. This is because the Department of Conservation said it was "data deficient" in 2013 after a possible sighting near Reefton in 2007.

How the Park is Managed

Managing Pests

It's been very hard to bring back New Zealand's native animal and plant communities on the main islands. People have tried using poisons from the air and in bait stations for rats and possums. They also use traps to kill stoats. These efforts have helped native birds have more successful breeding seasons. Using poison for stoats instead of traps could greatly reduce the cost of controlling them. This is because fewer visits to the area are needed, and stoats are hard to trap. It's been found that stoats can be poisoned indirectly in South Island beech forests, which could be a good way to control them. A study in 2000 found that using poisons like 1080 and brodifacoum to control rodents (rats and mice) also significantly poisoned stoats and cats. This could be a very useful way to help New Zealand's native communities. However, it's very important that poisoning is done in a way that doesn't harm native species that are not the target.

Hunting in the Park

No mammal species that have been brought to New Zealand are protected. This means there are few rules about hunting these introduced mammals for fun. The main rule is getting permission from the landowner to enter the land. Park managers see hunting for fun as a somewhat useful way to control pests. However, recreational hunting usually doesn't keep the numbers of target species low enough to truly protect the more vulnerable native species.