McHughs Forest Park is a 43 hectare public recreational reserve on the edge of Darfield town in the Selwyn District of the South Island of New Zealand. It was established in 1893 as a plantation forest for timber and shelter, dominated by Douglas fir but with a mix of other exotic conifers.[1]
McHughs Forest Park was formerly part of the Selwyn Plantation Board’s forest holdings and is now owned by the Selwyn District Council and publicly accessible with a diversity of walking tracks.[1] In 1986 Dereck Rooney described McHughs Forest as "the third-best Douglas fir stand in New Zealand".[2]
Under the planted conifer canopy is extensive natural regeneration of both native and exotic plants which harbour a diversity of animals and fungi.[3] Members of the Canterbury Botanical Society recorded 18 ferns inside McHughs Plantation in 1986, 17 of them indigenous to New Zealand.[2]
References
edit- ^ a b "McHughs Forest Park". Sensational Selwyn. Retrieved 1 April 2018.
- ^ a b Rooney, Dereck (1986). "Conifer and hardwood plantations as a habitat for shrubs and ferns". Journal of the Canterbury Botanical Society. 20: 42–47.
- ^ "Species observed in McHughs Forest". NatureWatch NZ. Retrieved 1 April 2018.
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