Eyrewell Forest

Eyrewell Forest is a small rural area in the Waimakariri District, New Zealand.

Eyrewell Forest
Rural Area
Destruction of the forest the area is named after on 1 August 1975
Eyrewell Forest
Coordinates: 43.42°S 172.31°E / -43.42; 172.31
Country New Zealand
RegionCanterbury
Territorial authorityWaimakariri District
ElectoratesWaimakariri
Te Tai Tonga (Maori electorate)[1]
Time zoneUTC+12 (NZST)
 • Summer (DST)UTC+13 (NZDT)
Postcode
7476 and 7495
Area code(s)03
Local iwiNgāi Tahu

Etymology

During the 1920s, kānuka was replaced with plantation forestry.[2] The name "Eyre" used for many geographic features in the wider area refers to Edward John Eyre who was Lieutenant-Governor of New Munster Province from 1848 to 1853. Eyrewell was named by an early settler, Marmaduke Dixon, when he found much-needed groundwater on his property.[3] With about half of the area in exotic pines, the "Forest" part of the name derived.

History

Due to Canterbury's lack of native forest, in the early 1900s the government planted exotic forests throughout North Canterbury, including Eyrewell Forest. On 1 August 1975, however, most of the forest was blown over by strong north-westerly winds. The area's Pinus radiata plantation is the only place on earth where the critically endangered Eyrewell ground beetle can (or could) be found.[4] As of January 2019, the plantation has been almost entirely cleared by local iwi Ngāi Tahu, with the intention of converting it into intensive dairy farms. Despite protests by Department of Conservation, it is thought that the rare Eyrewell ground beetle has become extinct as a result.[2] There is also considerable concern over the large environmental impact this will have in the area, considering its proximity to the Waimakariri River and the area's dry conditions.[5]

Climate

The average temperature in summer is 16.2 °C, and in winter is 5.9 °C.[6]

MonthNormal temperature
January16.8 °C
February16.3 °C
March14.6 °C
April11.6 °C
May8.3 °C
June5.8 °C
July5.3 °C
August6.5 °C
September8.9 °C
October11.2 °C
November13.3 °C
December15.5 °C

References
  1. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 8 February 2013. Retrieved 29 November 2013.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  2. Hancock, Farah (13 February 2019). "Hello cows, bye-bye rare beetle". Newsroom. Retrieved 15 February 2019.
  3. Reed, A. W. (2010). Peter Dowling (ed.). Place Names of New Zealand. Rosedale, North Shore: Raupo. p. 119. ISBN 9780143204107.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
  4. Brockerhoff, Eckehard G.; Berndt, Lisa A.; Jactel, Hervé (2005). "Role of exotic pine forests in the conservation of the critically endangered New Zealand ground beetle Holcaspis brevicula (Coleoptera: Carabidae)". New Zealand Journal of Ecology. 29 (1): 37–43.
  5. Chalmers, Heather (30 October 2018). "Ngāi Tahu Farming replaces forestry with 14,000 cows at Eyrewell". Stuff. Retrieved 20 November 2019.
  6. "Weather statistics for EYREWELL FOREST, Canterbury (New Zealand)". yr.no. Retrieved 28 November 2013.
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