Mr Parker said yesterday when contacted the land had been owned by the family for at least 30 years, and they had always been aware of the importance of the fossils on it. However, they had become aware of the importance of the vegetation only in the past 10 years, since the Department of Conservation became involved.
While as active as possible in encouraging preservation, Mr Parker was initially reluctant to sell the land because it was part of the identity of the farm, he said.
The reserve, which will be administered by Doc, is in Gards Rd and has critically endangered plants and a rare limestone ecosystem, including fossils.
Minister of Conservation Nick Smith announced the purchase yesterday. When contacted, a spokesman for Mr Smith said the fund had identified the site as being important, then approached the landowners to buy it.
The owners had worked hard to conserve the site through weed control and always supported Doc's work in the region.
The reserve was the first of its kind in the Waitaki Valley region, Dr Smith said.
''In the past we have seen a greater focus on protecting the high country in this area through processes such as tenure review, so it is a credit to the Parkers that we have now secured the protection of this threatened lowland habitat,'' he said.
The site was also important in archaeological terms, there being evidence of early Maori occupancy.
The limestone beds contained a fossil record of dolphins, whales and penguins and it was hoped the reserve would become part of the Vanished World fossil trail. The cliffs had many native plants, including prostrate kowhai (Sophora prostrata) and Oamaru limestone's own native broom, Carmichaelia hollowayi.
It was one of only three places in New Zealand where the nationally critical broom species still grew, and was home to 15 of the 60 plants remaining in the wild.
The site also had the strongest population of the native cress Lepidium sisymbrioides, a nationally endangered species, with hundreds of the plants. Raoulia monroi, a mat daisy, and an unnamed gentian were other threatened plants on the site.
Restoration work to remove boxthorn weed and establish new populations of threatened plant species will start with a volunteer day on February 23.
