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| nearest_town = [[Te Anau|Te Anau, New Zealand]] |
| nearest_town = [[Te Anau|Te Anau, New Zealand]] |
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| governing_body = [[Department of Conservation (New Zealand)|Department of Conservation]] |
| governing_body = [[Department of Conservation (New Zealand)|Department of Conservation]] |
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The ”’Wilderness Scientific Reserve”’ (officially ”’The Wilderness Area Scientific Reserve”’),<ref>{{Cite web |title=New Zealand Gazetteer |url=https://gazetteer.linz.govt.nz/place/9677 |access-date=14 September 2025 |website=[[New Zealand Geographic Board]]}}</ref> is a protected {{convert| |
The ”’Wilderness Scientific Reserve”’ (officially ”’The Wilderness Area Scientific Reserve”’),<ref>{{Cite web |title=New Zealand Gazetteer |url=https://gazetteer.linz.govt.nz/place/9677 |access-date=14 September 2025 |website=[[New Zealand Geographic Board]]}}</ref> is a protected {{convert||ha|abbr=on}} scientific reserve located in the [[Southland Region]] of New Zealand’s [[South Island]]. It lies to the north of [[Mararoa River]] with portions of the reserve on both the north and south sides of [[State Highway 94 (New Zealand)|State Highway 94]]. Established in 1964, the reserve was created to preserve a distinctive post‑glacial vegetation community dominated by the hardy native bog pine (”[[Halocarpus bidwillii]]”), which survives in thin, stony soils characteristic of glacial [[Moraine|moraines]] and riverbeds.<ref name=”:0″>{{Cite journal |last1=Close|first1=R.|last2=Giller|first2=M.|last3=Sykes|first3=W.|title=Wilderness Scientific Reserve |url=https://bts.nzpcn.org.nz/site/assets/files/22508/cant_1998_32__33-34.pdf|journal=Canterbury Botanical Society Journal|volume=32|pages=33-34|year=1998|access-date=2025-09-03 |language=en}}</ref> There is a short wheelchair-accessible path from the State Highway to a viewing platform over the bog pine forest.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Wilderness Lookout Walk |url=https://www.doc.govt.nz/parks-and-recreation/places-to-go/fiordland/places/fiordland-national-park/things-to-do/tracks/wilderness-lookout-walk/ |access-date=2025-09-03 |website=[[Department of Conservation (New Zealand)|Department of Conservation]] |language=en-nz}}</ref> |
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==Flora== |
==Flora== |
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Latest revision as of 07:30, 14 September 2025
Scientific reserve in the South Island of New Zealand
The Wilderness Scientific Reserve (officially The Wilderness Area Scientific Reserve),[1] is a protected 88 ha (220 acres) scientific reserve located in the Southland Region of New Zealand’s South Island.[2] It lies to the north of Mararoa River with portions of the reserve on both the north and south sides of State Highway 94. Established in 1964, the reserve was created to preserve a distinctive post‑glacial vegetation community dominated by the hardy native bog pine (Halocarpus bidwillii), which survives in thin, stony soils characteristic of glacial moraines and riverbeds.[3] There is a short wheelchair-accessible path from the State Highway to a viewing platform over the bog pine forest.[4]
The most prominent vegetation in the reserve is the bog pine, Halocarpus bidwillii, a slow-growing evergreen shrub or small tree endemic to New Zealand.[5] Beneath and between clumps of bog pine, the forest floor is characterized by a dense, rich carpet of mosses and lichens.[3] Racomitrium is common here. Flowering plants like Acaena are found in a few areas in the reserve.[3] There are many ferns like the prickly shield fern (Polystichum vestitum) and the bracken fern (Pteridium esculentum). Non-native plants like Douglas fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii) have been grown near the reserve.[3]
