News

Moko: Tree of the Year Finalist

The Trust was hugely excited that Moko, our treasured, more than 800 year-old rimu, was announced a finalist for Rākau o te tau - New Zealand Tree of the Year 2024.

For those who don’t know, this event is inspired by the ‘European Tree of the Year’ which began in 2011. It’s not about the biggest or most beautiful tree, butPhoto: Carol West celebrating the heritage that connects us to our trees, and celebrating the trees that play an important part in our future. Which brings us to Moko, possibly the best-loved and most-visited tree in Wellington and considered so important in the place she stands that in 2021 she was gifted her name by mana whenua. Moko hosts an entire forest community in her own right! Crwded over her limbs are epiphytes: astelias, ferns, clubmosses and many other plants including northern rātā and the rare kohurangi, Kirk’s daisy, that was locally extinct in Wellington until its recent return to Ōtari. Forest geckos live in her crown.
In the 1970s Moko and the forest around her were saved from destruction, when plans to cut a road through Ōtari-Wilton’s Bush were stymied by environmentalist, Bob Fantl and supporting locals.

Today the track to Moko is one of the most popular in all of Ōtari. Even a kiwi has been tracked heading her way!

And for an update - being a finlist attracted huge interest and nationwide exposure for Moko and for Ōtari-Wilton’s Bush, even if we didn’t win.

Posted: 7 May 2024

Kiwi are here: in Ōtari-Wilton’s Bush

We have kiwi!Brown Kiwi, Photo Sara Tansy, The Capital Kiwi Project The pleasure of safeguarding Ōtari’s chicks, eggs and seedlings from animal predators has motivated volunteer trappers for nearly 20 years. That feel-good notion just ramped up big time, since a male brown kiwi with a transmitter was located near Ōtari’s Upper Blue Trail. This is the first kiwi to be found in the reserve in 150 years. Other sightings, in Ōtari and a nearby suburb, have also been reported. Ōtari Manager, Tim Park, is beyond excited. “Having these guys in the ecosystem again, it’s just beautiful. This is where they belong. We’re so grateful to our network of trappers for controlling stoats and other pests and keeping Ōtari safer for all the birds,” he adds. Thanks also to The Capital Kiwi Project for all your work – and let’s now work together to keep our kiwi and all our other taonga species safe. Please, keep your dogs on-leash, even if they’ve had kiwi-aversion training. And if you see an off-leash dog, politely ask the owner to leash it. It is very easy for a dog, no matter how well behaved, to kill or seriously injure a kiwi.

Posted: 7 May 2024

Where in the World?

In its autumn 2024 issue, Forest & Bird magazine devoted a six page spread to Ōtari-Wilton’s Bush. The ancient forest, native garden collections, standout species and special people in the history of Ōtari were all featured. Ōtari-Wilton’s Bush was also described as an exemplar of modern, community based restoration. Read the stories here (PDF, 1.22 MB), here (PDF, 1.21 MB) and here (PDF, 1.19 MB).

Posted: 1 May 2024