he dunelands of the Manawatu are certainly distinctive and some of the most representative of these can be reached via Scotts Ferry, about 19 kilometres south-west of Bulls. These dunes are among the most exacting environments to be found anywhere in this country, with dessicating winds and temperatures, drifting sands, and low nutrient levels.

In response to duneland conditions, a small group of highly specialised plants has evolved, of which pingao, an endemic sedge, and spinifex, a grass, are the most widespread. Spinifex is found on most beaches in the North Island and in the top half of the South Island, while pingao extends from North Cape to Stewart Island and the Chathams. Pingao's graceful orange-green leaves make it one of the dunelands' most colourful plants and it was much used by the Maori for weaving. Despite its range, pingao is now under threat from the planting of exotic plants such as marram grass and tree lupin, both of which consolidate sand and destroy the shifting sands pingao favours. Other duneland plants are less common and some of them are becoming scarce. Among these are the shore milkweed, the sand daphne and two ranunculi.

Any developed areas of the dune country are home to a surprisingly wide range of fauna, both native and exotic. Even the kereru relishes the protein-rich leaves of the nitrogen-fixing legumes. Swamps, lakes, scrub and open pastureland are all found here, along with sizeable stands of trees, and each of these habitats supports its own particular communities. Exotic birds flourish as do their enemies - rats, stoats and weasels.

In the winter great flocks of finches inhabit the dunelands and feast on seeds. It is not altogether surprising that the decline of the kakariki and the extinction of the native quail (koreke), was accelerated by the introduction of these birds and their competition for food. The native insect-eaters are doing better against the foreign competition with large populations of warblers, fantails, kingfishers, pipits and even fembirds to be seen.