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| 1 | <html><head><title>Camps, commerce and conservation</title></head><body><h2>Camps, commerce and conservation</h2><p>Matakohe (or Limestone) Island is named for the kohekohe trees which were once prolific on the island and its appearance when looking west from Whangarei Heads of being a headland (mata). Straddling the middle harbour betweeen Onerahi and Onemama Pt, it guards the more sheltered tidal reaches and river mouths. In pre-European times it would have looked a much more formidable buffer than today, with its steep limestone bluffs facing east and a terraced pa defending its 65m summit. The island did in fact play a very important role in the overall defence strategy for tribal land during the late 1700s and early 1800s and was often used as a camp site by war expeditions. </p><p>The first commercial activities on Matakohe were undertaken by Gordon Davies Brown, who in the early 1830s took up residence with local Maori living on the island to become a flax trader exporting to Australia. The agricultural drain lines from general island occupation through that period are still visible from around Onerahi. </p><p> In 1848 the first limestone works were built by Robert Carruth and Mathew Whitelaw, then extended in 1865. Between 1906 and 1918 the works became a major industry with 270 employed at their peak. Most of the original associated buildings were eventually moved to Portland and the island was bought by the Northland Harbour Board before being gifted to Whangarei district in 1989. The first of thousands of restoration plantings occurred later that year and the Friends of Matakohe-Limestone Island community group was incorporated in 1993. </p><p>The group and its supporters have gone from strength to strength. In 2000 there was a massive millennium planting project and in 2001, the first two kiwi chicks were released into this pest-free "creche". In 2008 the 50th kiwi chick raised on the island was released back to the mainland. </p><p> </p></body></html> |
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