Hugh Wilson (New Zealand botanist)


Hugh Dale Wilson is a New Zealand botanist. He has written and illustrated a number of books about New Zealand plants. He manages Hinewai Reserve on Banks Peninsula.

Early life

Wilson was born in Timaru. He went to Elmwood District School in Christchurch where he began drawing birds at an early age. At St Andrews College he was Dux in 1962. He taught for Voluntary Service Overseas, the British scheme on which Volunteer Service Abroad was later to be based, in Sarawak on Borneo. After attending the University of Canterbury, he studied the botany of Stewart Island / Rakiura, and then the Aoraki / Mount Cook region, for several years. This was followed by a botanical survey of Banks Peninsula.

Banks Peninsula PNAP

The Department of Lands and Survey had a programme, known as the Protected Natural Areas Programme, of identifying and protecting examples of plant life, animals, ecosystems and landscape features that make New Zealand unique. The PNAP was established in 1983, and the country was divided into 268 ecological districts, grouped into 85 ecological regions. Banks Peninsula was one of those regions, with Port Hills, Herbert and Akaroa making up its three districts.
Wilson started fieldwork on Banks Peninsula and Kaitorete Spit in September 1983. He established a 1000-yard grid-point system and surveyed a 6 m x 6 m sample plot at each site. That way, 1331 plots were surveyed over a five-year period. While the work had been supported by the Koiata Botanical Trust, DOC realised that it was directly relevant to their aims, and asked Wilson to write the Banks Peninsula PNAP report. The report was the 21st in the series and published in 1992.

Hinewai Reserve

is a private nature reserve on Banks Peninsula. It started off as a 109 ha block of farmland bought by the Maurice White Native Forest Trust in September 1987 and is now 1230 ha of gorse and regenerating native bush. Wilson identified the land as suitable for the trust's aims during his PNAP work. He has been managing the reserve since its purchase.

In popular culture

Wilson is featured in the film Earth Whisperers/Papatuanuku.
In 2010, Wilson was interviewed for the feature-length documentary film "Queen of the Sun: What are the bees telling us?"
In 2019, Wilson was the subject for the short documentary film "Fools and Dreamers: Regenerating a Native Forest".

Selected bibliography