The making and remaking of land
I am interested in how we use the land and how this has changed over time, undoing what was done, returning or regenerating what was lost because of a previous generation’s needs to survive or thrive. This project seeks to make sense of the settlers’ need to strip the land to its bare bones and then compare this to what the land is being used for today.
I have used the Brook Valley as a location to explore this concept due its importance to Nelson residents as the location of the initial town water source, the first railway in Aotearoa New Zealand, a source of coal, a weaver’s mill, a provider of produce amongst many other functions.
The Brook Valley is now a thriving suburb, a gateway for recreation and significantly a native wildlife and plant sanctuary with remnants of original forest and beautiful stream, a place of parks, walks and community gardens. The concrete channel represents a significant barrier to migrating fish yet enabled housing needs and the security of that housing. The pine plantations are being slowly converted back to natives supported by community trapping groups and residents who trap and hunt their own blocks.
The Brook Valley is an example of mistakes made, regeneration in progress and protections established that can be built upon to enhance Nelson’s environment.
To read more about this project’s background I have written an article.
I learnt a lot from the book “Making a new land: Environmental histories of New Zealand” Edited by Eric Pawson & Tom Brooking
