ALUMNI – Former HOD History Peter Thomas publishes book

Peter Thomas, a retired Classics and History teacher who spent many years at Hillcrest High School has recently published a book.

Who saved the Waipoua Kauri Forest of Northland, New Zealand? Why has nothing of any substance been written about the campaign to protect the forest? Was this New Zealand’s first significant conservation campaign? In 1952, 9000 hectares of forest was proclaimed a Forest Sanctuary after 25 years of campaigning. 

Peter Thomas, a retired Classics and History teacher, decided to see what role his father, lawyer and horticulturist Norman Russell Withiel Thomas (NRW) played in the campaign. This account does not pretend to be ‘the’ history of the campaign, but rather an account of the role that NRW and others played in the struggle to save the forest.

This book is in store and available at booksellers.co.nz