North & South – June 2019

NORTH & SOUTH| JUNE 2019| 19

outinthewildernesswhen

Roquespipedupandsaid,

‘There’ssomuchconcrete

here.I don’twanttolivein

a placewithconcrete.I want

toliveina placewithtrees.’”

WhenSmithaskedhisson

whathe’dcallsucha place,

Roquesreplied,“Treespace”.

Nowthat’sthenameofa

companySmithhasfounded

toheraldwhathebelieves

willbea neweraofeco-

development,bringingto-

getherthetwinpowersof

environmentalismandcom-

merce.“Ithastopaytodo

good,andit hastopaytore-

generatetheenvironment.”

Lastyear,Treespacebought

MtDewarStation,ontheout-

skirtsofQueenstown,with

planstoplantsome146,

nativemountainbeechtrees

onthe1780haproperty,which

isfightinga rearguardaction

againstwildingpinesandin-

troducedpests.A smallnum-

berofsectionswillbesoldto

fundanongoingreforestation

project,whichis currentlygo-

ingthroughtheconsentpro-

cess.It’shopedthefirsttree

willbeplantednextspring.

Dottedacrossthemoun-

tain,80%ofthesections

forsalewillbelimitedtoa

1002 mfootprint– smaller

thantheaveragethree-bed-

roomhouse.Smithsaysthat

willkeepthemaffordable,in

tunewiththecompany’segal-

itarianideals.“Yougettolive

ina forestwithspacearound

you,withbirdsongandmoun-

tain-biketrails,withoutan

immediateneighbour.”

Theprojecthasn’tbeen

withoutcontroversy;some

environmentalistsopposeany

developmentofthehillside.

ToSmith,theTreespace

conceptis a newwayofdoing

businessthatblendsvalues

andecologicalawarenesswith

economics.“It’sanadjust-

ment,”hesays,“abeliefthat

peoplewanttodosomething

thatis fundamentally the right

thingtodo.”

POPPIE JOHNSON

VANISHINGACT

TheHamilton’sfrogis a

singularcritter.Ourlarg-

estprehistoricnative

amphibian,it skipsthe

tadpolestagealtogether,

climbingontoitsfather’s

backafterhatchinguntil

it growsstrongenough

tofendforitself.It also

topsour“mostendan-

geredreptiles,frogsand

bats”list,followedbytwo

nativebats,a skinkand

a gecko.Lessthan 300

Hamilton’sfrogssurvive,

ontwoislandsanctuar-

iesintheMarlborough

Sounds.

OntheBrink, bychil-

dren’sbookauthorMaria

GillandillustratorTerry

Fitzgibbon(NewHolland,

$27.99),profilesourtop-

fivespeciesclosestto

extinctionineachclass,

includinginsects(head-

edbytheMokohinaustag

beetle),birds(theNew

Zealandfairytern),ma-

rinemammals(theMāui

dolphin)andfish(thelow-

landlongjawgalaxias).

Morethan 4000 ofour

nativespecies,including

plants,arenowclassified

as“threatened”or“at

risk”;thefairytern,oneof

oursmallestseabirds,is

nowdownto 12 breeding

pairs.A greatresourcefor

youngenvironmentalists,

OntheBrinkcloseswith

a calltoaction,provid-

ingpracticaltipsonhow

tohelpensureourmost

vulnerablespecieshavea

future. JOANNA WANE

IN PRINT

skillstotryandpushthingsina directionthatfeelsright,”he
says.“Beingclosetopeopleinenvironmentaloraidmovements,
andatthesametimebeinginvolvedintheworldofcommerce,
mademeinterestedinseeinghowonecanhelptheother.”
Thefirstdevelopmentheheadedtransformeda Queenstown
hotel,theSherwood,intoa sustainablehubwitheco-friendly
accommodation.Smithlivesonsite,withpartnerMandyandtheir
sonsRoques,9, Névé,7, andForrest,4, whoareall“freeschooled”,
witha mixofstructuredstudyandtimespentoutdoors.Hislatest
venturewasinspiredbya conversationwithRoques,who’snamed
afteranarchipelagooffthecoastofVenezuela,whereSmithspent
timeduringthatlife-changingsailingtrip.
“We were driving down the motorway in Auckland after being

AdamSmithonhis

landnearthesummit

ofMtDewar,with

LakeWakatipuand

theRemarkablesin

the background.