CONFERENCE SPEAKERS
Mike Lloyd
Victoria University
SPEAKER BIO
Mike Lloyd initially worked in Christchurch as a landscape gardener, nurseryman, and as a technician in the Horticulture Department at Lincoln College. During his work at Lincoln he completed a National Certificate in Horticulture (nursery management), but left Lincoln to resume studies in sociology, eventually completing a PhD at the University of Canterbury in 1994. Thereafter he moved to Victoria University of Wellington, where he has recently rejuvenated his interest in things arboreal, including recent projects on the social legacy of the Phoenix palm in New Zealand.
TALK TITLE
Monumental, Pest Plant: The Phoenix palm through a relativist lens
ABSTRACT
From 1900 Auckland was the epicentre for Phoenix palm planting in New Zealand, with several locations becoming well-known for palm-avenue plantings (eg. Myers Park, Ellerslie Racecourse). But about 100 years later, successful moves were made to classify them as a ‘pest plant’ in the Auckland region. Significant numbers of the palm still remain in Auckland, however, new plantings cannot legally be made. Furthermore, a negative framing of the palm has also spread further south in the North Island, meaning that removal of quite old Phoenix palms is common. Simultaneously, in places like Raglan, Napier and Palmerston North, due to the ‘monumental’ effect of 100 year old palms, they are celebrated and deemed ‘iconic’. The source of different local reactions to Phoenix palms is hard to trace, nevertheless it is important to focus on the comma separating high praise from a desire to be rid of the palm. It is important to question whether aspects of what happened to Phoenix palms was necessary: what are the implications are of a growth in negativity towards the palm? Despite an obvious recognition that the world needs more trees, the interesting question is how we reach decisions on precisely which ones, and what such decisions mean for already established plantings.