Albany Presbyterian Church Fernhill Escarpment nature walk
Story contributed by Anne Aalbers
Last Sunday, 8th March, ten members from Albany Presbyterian Church tackled the Fernhill Escarpment in Albany, beginning at Kānuka Reserve and mostly following the river back to the church. We were so ably led by Nicholas Mayne, botanist John Staniland and his wife, Karin, all pointing out the wonders of the bush around us, most of it endemic to NZ. All ten of us were unanimous at the end of the walk that we had learnt so much, more than we’d imagined. We learned how to distinguish our five endemic podocarps: Tōtara, Kahikatea, Rimu, Mātai and Miro. And from the greatest to the least, we also spotted tiny grasses and ground-cover plants (the names of which I do not carry in my head). I’m afraid I did not even know we had such small native plants. We also met our own native Protea, the Rewarewa, and we learnt there are many varieties of native Coprosma, again the names of which do not readily come to mind, but the words robusta and australis are floating there somewhere.
I read the statistics of a survey not long ago that said that 98% of us Kiwis love the outdoors, we even travel to be in it, and we believe it improves our well-being to be in nature. But only 38% could claim that they do anything to sustain nature, let alone restore our damaged environment. I recently watched a documentary, by the famed and beloved David Attenborough, who had this to say: “Few people will protect the natural world if they don’t first love and understand it.” I think a ramble through the Fernhill Escarpment was the perfect antidote to apathy, to help us love and understand the earth, our home, which God created so, so intricately.
