The Forest
Waipoua Forest is located on the west coast of New Zealand’s Northland. It is a Crown-owned native (indigenous) forest managed by the Department of Conservation.
The Campaign
On the 3rd of July 1952, after a long public campaign, some 23,000 acres of the 39,000-acre Waipoua Forest were proclaimed a forest sanctuary. Logging of kauri in the forest sanctuary was then banned.
The Book
Retired History and Classics teacher, Peter Thomas, decided to investigate what role his father, lawyer and horticulturist Norman Russell Withiel Thomas (NRW), played in the campaign. The account does not pretend to be 'the' history of the campaign but rather an account of the role NRW and others played in the struggle to save the forest.
