The Peel Forest Park Scenic Reserve is a forest reserve in the

Canterbury Canterbury (, ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and UNESCO World Heritage Site, situated in the heart of the City of Canterbury local government district of Kent, England. It lies on the River Stour, Kent, River Stour. ...

region in the

South Island The South Island, also officially named , is the larger of the two major islands of New Zealand in surface area, the other being the smaller but more populous North Island. It is bordered to the north by Cook Strait, to the west by the Tasman ...

of New Zealand. It is located near the

Rangitata River The Rangitata River is one of the braided rivers that helped form the Canterbury Plains in southern New Zealand. It flows southeast for from the Southern Alps (New Zealand), Southern Alps, entering the Pacific Ocean northeast of Timaru. The riv ...

and is in the foothills of the

Southern Alps The Southern Alps (; officially Southern Alps / Kā Tiritiri o te Moana) is a mountain range extending along much of the length of New Zealand's South Island, reaching its greatest elevations near the range's western side. The name "Southern ...

. The park is managed by the

Department of Conservation An environmental ministry is a national or subnational government agency politically responsible for the environment and/or natural resources. Various other names are commonly used to identify such agencies, such as Ministry of the Environment ...

as a scenic reserve, not a

forest park A forest park is a park whose main theme is its forest of trees. Forest parks are found both in the mountains and in the urban environment. Examples Chile * Forest Park, Santiago China *Gongqing Forest Park, Shanghai * Mufushan National Fores ...

Etymology

The forest was named by

Francis Jollie Francis Jollie (1815 – 30 November 1870) was a politician in New Zealand. Biography Early life and career Jollie was born in 1815. The family was from Brampton, Carlisle, England. His father was the Reverend Francis Jollie, and he was the ol ...

, who settled in the area in late 1853. Jollie had named the forest after Sir

Robert Peel Sir Robert Peel, 2nd Baronet, (5 February 1788 – 2 July 1850) was a British Conservative statesman who served twice as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (1834–1835 and 1841–1846) simultaneously serving as Chancellor of the Exchequer ...

, the British

Prime Minister of the United Kingdom The prime minister of the United Kingdom is the head of government of the United Kingdom. The prime minister advises the sovereign on the exercise of much of the royal prerogative, chairs the Cabinet and selects its ministers. As modern pr ...

who had died in 1850, the year that Canterbury was founded. The adjacent mountain and the nearby community of Peel Forest also took Peel's name.

Flora and fauna

The Peel Forest is the remnant of a large ''

Podocarpaceae Podocarpaceae is a large family of mainly Southern Hemisphere conifers, known in English as podocarps, comprising about 156 species of evergreen trees and shrubs.James E. Eckenwalder. 2009. ''Conifers of the World''. Portland, Oregon: Timber Pre ...

'' forest. The three major tree types are the

kahikatea ''Dacrycarpus dacrydioides'', commonly known as kahikatea (from Māori) and white pine, is a coniferous tree endemic to New Zealand. A podocarp, it is New Zealand's tallest tree, gaining heights of 60 m and a life span of 600 years. It was firs ...

(white pine),

tōtara ''Podocarpus totara'' (; from the Maori-language ; the spelling "totara" is also common in English) is a species of podocarp tree endemic to New Zealand. It grows throughout the North Island and northeastern South Island in lowland, montane and ...

and matai (black pine). Logging reduced the forest to its current size. For his lengthy botanical study of Mount Peel,

Harry Allan Harry Howard Barton Allan (27 April 1882 – 29 October 1957) was a New Zealand teacher, botanist, scientific administrator, and writer. Despite never receiving a formal education in botany, he became an eminent scientist, publishing ove ...

was awarded a

Doctor of Science Doctor of Science ( la, links=no, Scientiae Doctor), usually abbreviated Sc.D., D.Sc., S.D., or D.S., is an academic research degree awarded in a number of countries throughout the world. In some countries, "Doctor of Science" is the degree used f ...

in 1923. The forest is also home to many birds including

kererū The kererū (''Hemiphaga novaeseelandiae'') or New Zealand pigeon is a species of pigeon native to New Zealand. Johann Friedrich Gmelin described the bird in 1789 as a large, conspicuous pigeon up to in length and in weight, with a white br ...

fantail Fantails are small insectivorous songbirds of the genus ''Rhipidura'' in the family Rhipiduridae, native to Australasia, Southeast Asia and the Indian subcontinent. Most of the species are about long, specialist aerial feeders, and named as "f ...

''(''pīwakawaka), and

tomtit The tomtit (''Petroica macrocephala'') is a small passerine bird in the family Petroicidae The bird family Petroicidae includes 51 species in 19 genera. All are endemic to Australasia: New Guinea, Australia, New Zealand and numerous Pacific ...

(miromiro).

Activities

Tramping Tramping may refer to: Travel *Hiking *Trekking *Tramping in New Zealand, a style of backpacking or hiking * Czech tramping, a Czech outdoors pastime Places * Rural Municipality of Tramping Lake No. 380, Saskatchewan, Canada ** Tramping Lake, Sas ...

is a popular activity in the park. There are several short walks, tramps, and one longer route that leads to the summit of Little

Mount Peel Mount Peel is a mountain located in South Canterbury, New Zealand. It consists of three peaks, Mount Peel (often referred to as Big Mt Peel), Middle Mt Peel () and Little Mt Peel/Huatekerekere (). Mt Peel is tall and is owned by the Department ...

References

{{reflist

External links

Peel Forest Park
at the Department of Conservation Parks in Canterbury, New Zealand Protected areas established in 1909 1909 establishments in New Zealand

Etymology

Flora and fauna

Activities

See also

References

External links