ARTICLE : PRESIDENT’S ANNUAL REPORT

 August 2004 – President’s Annual Report

It has been a busy year for the Society.   I would like to thank all those members who have contributed in so many ways to the running of BotSoc, to the study of our indigenous plant communities, and to the protection and management of indigenous ecosystems.

Field Trips

We have had sixteen trips, with attendance totalling 235 people – average 14.7 / trip.   (2002/03 year total 16 trips / 244 people / 15.3 average).

Thanks to Sunita Singh for organising the programme, to field trip leaders, speakers, and to Joyce Wilson for organising the food for our summer camp.

Evening Meetings

Victoria University’s Murphy Building Lecture Theatre M101 has proved ideal for our meetings.   We thank Professor Phil Garnock-Jones, School of Biological Sciences, and Jude Urlich, Director of Public Affairs, for making this room available, and for providing teaching aids.   We had nine excellent speakers on fascinating topics, plus our annual members’ evening.   Attendance totalled 321 people – average 32/meeting.   (2002/03 year: 10 meetings, 339 people; average 34 per meeting).   We thank Julia White for promoting the programme through her e-mail contact, George Jones.

We thank Sunita Singh for organising the programme; our speakers, field trip leaders, people involved in “recces” for field trips and in preparing plant lists for land owners and land managers; and Gordon and Sheelagh Leary for organising the food for our New Year’s field trip.

Publications

We thank:
• Jeremy Rolfe for formatting the Newsletter, and updating our letterhead stationery.
• John Sawyer for editing WBS Bulletin No.49.
• Sheelagh Leary for preparing a one page poster summarising our programme.
• Ian Goodwin for summarising field trip reports for inclusion in the NZ Botanical Society Newsletter, and drafting a revision of our letterhead stationery.
• New Zealand Print for printing 420 copies of the three issues of the Newsletter, and 150 copies of a one page summary of our programme, for use as a poster.
• All contributors to our Bulletin and Newsletter.
• Everyone> who has helped with mailing the Newsletter.

Sponsorship

We thank NZ Post’s Community Post for 200 postage-paid envelopes to use when promoting BotSoc’s objects.

Electronic communications

We thank Richard Herbert who has taken over management of our web site, from Penny Currier and Roger Currier, who designed it; Julia White for passing on e-mails from local and overseas contacts.   Our newsletter is available to members by e-mail, and the programme is available to everyone with access to the internet.

Membership

As at 22 August 2004, BotSoc had 270 financial members, comprising: ordinary – 133; group – 16; country – 67; student – 5; life – 49.
We thank Rodney Lewington, Penny Currier and Roger Currier for maintaining our membership records, and Penny and Roger for producing address labels.

NZ Plant Conservation Network

Indigenous ecosystems are increasingly under threat, and professional botanists are struggling to stem the tide.   The need for botanical societies has never been greater.   We congratulate BotSoccers Mike Oates, John Sawyer, and Philippa Crisp who were elected to the new council on 7 August.

Te Marua Bush

Since 1989 BotSoc has jointly managed the restoration of this 0.6 ha remnant matai-totara-black maire forest near Upper Hutt.   We had a workbee on 18 October, concentrating on removing tradescantia and clearing broom from the northern fence.   We thank Greater Wellington Regional Council for arranging to remove a concrete building foundation near a kahikatea at the south end, replacing it with clean topsoil to protect the roots, and for taking weeds from the site.   We thank BotSoccers Sue Millar and Glennis Shepperd, who live nearby, and keep an eye on the forest.

Display boards

These boards, sponsored by DOC, help us tell the public about BotSoc activities.   They were used at Otari-Wilton’s Bush Open Day 14/9/03, a NZ Ecological Restoration Network meeting 8/5/04 at Wallaceville, Wellington City Council’s Berhampore Nursery Open Day 22/5/04, and during Conservation Week 31/7–14/8/04 at Wellington Anglican Cathedral and in Parliament’s Legislative Chamber’s Great Hall.   We thank Barbara Mitcalfe for keeping the display up to date, and Ted Abraham for allocating it a prime spot at the cathedral.

Secretary

We thank Barbara Clark for her work managing so much of BotSoc’s paperwork, and for her involvement in our communications around the country.

Treasurer, Auditor

We thank Treasurer, Rodney Lewington, for managing our accounts, Darea Sherratt for doing the banking when he is unavailable, and Peter Beveridge for auditing our accounts.

Submissions Co-ordinator

We thank Barbara Mitcalfe who during the year handed over the role after ten demanding years to Joyce Stretton.   Joyce has since passed the work to Chris Horne.   Barbara continues her work analysing documents on which submissions have been called, and Joyce Stretton, and Sunita Singh also help.

Awards

We thank Dr Patrick Brownsey, Prof. Phil Garnock-Jones, and Dr Barry Sneddon for assessing applications for BotSoc’s Jubilee Award.   We congratulate Dr David Galloway, this year’s winner.   His award will go towards the cost of publication of the second edition of Flora of New Zealand Lichens.   BotSoc’s award will be acknowledged in the book.   We thank Arnold and Ruth Dench, and Bryan Halliday, for selling plants at our evening meetings, and donating the proceeds to the Jubilee Award Fund.

We nominated Dr Ian Atkinson for the New Zealand Botanical Society’s H H Allan Mere Award.   Botanical Society of Otago also supported his nomination.   We have yet to hear the result.

We congratulate Colin Ogle, this year’s winner of the Loder Cup.   Nominations are assessed by the Loder Cup Committee, which is appointed by the Minister of Conservation, and one recommended to the Minister for his approval.

We nominated Arnold and Ruth Dench for a Conservation Award for their work in raising threatened indigenous alpine plants and regret that our nomination was not successful.

We nominated Wellington City Council’s publication Branch Out for a Green Ribbon Award, and regret that our nomination was not successful.

We thank Joyce Stretton who liaised with NIWA about the Wellington Science and Technology Fair, for which we provided a $100 prize.   We thank Joyce, Darea Sherratt and Barbara Polly for judging the entries involving indigenous plants.   The joint winners in 2003 were: Annalise Bolger, Muritai Intermediate: Flammability of native trees; Daniel Rogerson, Tawa Intermediate: How does acid affect native plant growth.

Grants

We thank Rodney Lewington and Prof. Phil Garnock-Jones for administering BotSoc’s Student Field Grants scheme for students at Victoria University.

Appointments

Our nominee, Bev Abbott, continued her work on the Wellington Conservation Board.   We congratulate another BotSoccer, Dr Maggy Wassilieff, who was appointed to the board by the Minister of Conservation.

Robyn Smith is Curator Manager, Otari-Wilton’s Bush, where she works with BotSoccers Eleanor Burton and Mick Parsons.

Jill Broome is Plant collections Supervisor at Percy Scenic Reserve, Petone, Lower Hutt, where she manages the A P Druce alpine and other threatened plants collections, the indigenous forest in the reserve, and the indigenous plantings on Petone Esplanade.

Queen Elizabeth 11 Open Space Covenants

It is satisfying to report that Janet and Mike Warren have signed the covenant document on their Erin go Bragh Bush on South Makara Road.   Fencing has begun, so that stock and feral animals can be excluded from this remnant of partly pre-European forest.   BotSoc began its involvement with this forest in 1991, and in 1994 promised to donate $1000 to the cost of fencing.   That pledge has been met.

It is also satisfying to report that since our field trip to the Carrad farm, south of Pukerua Bay on 1 May, John and Christine Carrad are proceeding with registering a QEII Open Space Covenant to protect their forested gullies in perpetuity.

Riparian trial plantings

To assess the ability of native plants to replace introduced species on riparian sites, native plantings were done in 2002 at three sites on the banks of the Hutt River.   They were monitored by BotSoccers and Greater Wellington Regional Council staff on 17 October 2003.   The next monitoring will detect the impact of floods in February and August 2004.

Committee

We thank all our hard-working committee members for sharing BotSoc’s work between them, thus spreading the considerable workload.

Conclusion

The plant lists that we prepare on our field trips help landowners and land managers to work towards implementing the NZ Biodiversity Strategy.   The pleasure that we derive from visiting natural areas is reward enough.   The knowledge that we gain about our indigenous flora, the landscapes it belongs in, and the threats it faces, then using that knowledge to promote its conservation, is an added bonus.   The ultimate pleasure must be when, as reported above, areas that we deem to be of ecological significance, are given legal protection in perpetuity.

To ensure continued success in the protection of our indigenous flora, we must continue to focus on the study of, and advocacy for the 2500 species of vascular plants, and many more species of bryophytes, which comprise indigenous ecosystems.

Thank you for the honour of being elected as President for 2003/04.   I have enjoyed working with so many enthusiastic BotSoccers.   I wish Joyce Stretton the very best.

Chris Horne, President