Department of Conservation Botanist Wins 2007 Loder Cup
Amanda Baird has had a distinguished career since she left the University of Canterbury in the early 1980’s where took a B.Sc. in botany. Initially working for the New Zealand Forest Service she took up a position in the Canterbury Conservancy when the Department of Conservation was formed in 1987. In Canterbury Amanda worked with threatened plants and soon developed a deep interest in the Chatham Island flora, especially the protection of that island groups terrestrial ecosystems, and preventing the extinction of any of its c.47 endemic vascular plants. Initially Amanda worked closely with the late David Given, and undertook frequent visits to the islands with him. However, in early 1996 she took up a permanent position on the islands, working at first in the Field Centre, and then, following the 1997 restructuring of the Department, she was transferred across to the Wellington Conservancy as part of the new Chatham Island Area Office.Amanda is renowned for her meticulous attention to detail. Since she took up her position on the islands she has worked her way through hundreds of complicated landownership issues in relation to covenants, planned for and got funded 100’s of kilometers of fence line, tutored numerous Chatham Island staff to become better field botanists, and helped bring back from the brink of extinction no less that 8 of the 30 odd Chatham Island endemics currently regarded as threatened. It is of because of Amanda’s initial efforts that such Chatham Island specialties as the kopakopa or Chatham Island forget-me-not (Myosotidium hortensia) and sow thistle (Embergeria grandifolia) now exist in numerous accessible sites, with the latter actively, and naturally, expanding its range. Amanda has also played a significant role in the revegetation of Mangere Island Nature Reserve – once a large mass of rough pasture and now largely converted to scrub and regenerating forest.
Botanists visiting the island have long known and appreciated Amanda’s intimate knowledge of the islands flora and its people. She is widely seen as the first port of call for help and directions. On the islands she is deeply respected for her commitment to restoring the islands flora as functional ecosystems. Amanda’s contribution to science is evident in the plethora of papers and publications dealing with the Chatham Island flora and acknowledging her contributions that have come out in the last decade. Since 2003 Amanda has headed a team of dedicated botanists and islanders who have been steadily working to save the threatened Chatham Island plants from extinction. It’s ironic then that in a time where media attention seems focused on the biodiversity crisis and what we are losing, there has been little recognition – until this award - that Amanda’s team have been quietly getting on with it, and saving the Chatham Island flora and its unique specialties from extinction.
Congratulations Amanda!
Peter J. de Lange
Posted: 07/12/2007