Thomas Potts of Canterbury: Colonist and conservationist

In 1858 Canterbury settler Thomas Potts protested against the destruction of totara on the Port Hills near Christchurch. A decade later, as a member of Parliament, he made forest conservation a national issue. Through his writing he raised the then novel idea of protecting native birds on island reserves, and proposed the creation of national 'domains' or parks. As a pioneering colonist, acclimatist, and runholder, however, Potts' own actions threatened the very environments he sought to ma...