Ōtari-Wilton’s Bush • Ōtari-Wilton’s Bush Trust

The place of mana whenua

Ōtarikākā (Ōtari), ‘the place of snares to trap birds’, was traditionally a mahinga kai, a place for gathering food and much valued by successive iwi since the earliest settlements of Te Whanganui-a-Tara. A number of mana whenua entities; Taranaki Whānui, Te Āti Awa, and Ngāti Toa Rangatira, hold Ōtari within their rohe (boundary). In the 1800s, much of the iwi land became public reserve and is now part of Ōtari-Wilton’s Bush. One tract remains in the ownership of shareholders associated with Ngāti Tama.

The gift of Job Wilton

Settler/farmers arrived here in the 1800s and set to clearing the land. One of them, Job Wilton, chose to leave seven hectares of original forest untouched, and fenced it for protection. This was the original Wilton’s Bush. Ōtari Scenic Reserve, comprising much of the adjoining land, was established in 1906. Further steep and regenerating land was added to the reserve and, in 1918, Wellington City Council took over its management ‘for recreation purposes and the preservation of native flora’. Wilton’s Bush was added to the reserve in 1925.

The vision of Leonard Cockayne

In the early 1920s, eminent botanist Dr Leonard Cockayne expressed dismay at the destruction of New Zealand’s native forests and flora. His vision, to avoid the largescale loss of native plant species, was to bring as many of them as possible into one ‘open-air plant museum’. He chose Ōtari to be that place.

Thus, the Ōtari Open-Air Native Plant Museum opened in 1926, with Cockayne (Honorary Botanist) and J.G.McKenzie (Director of Wellington Parks and Reserves) at the helm. They developed a four point vision:

establish a collection of plants from all over New Zealand
cultivate these native plants at Ōtari
teach people about native plants and advocate their use in gardens
restore the native forest of Ōtari

Their vision remains a blueprint for Ōtari-Wilton’s Bush.

Photo: © Andy McArthur

Photo: © Chris Coad

Photo: © Andy McArthur

Photo: © Chris Coad

Photo: © Phil Parnell

Photo: © Andy McArthur

Ōtari-Wilton’s Bush of today

More than 1200 native plant species, hybrids and cultivars are now represented here, collected from as far afield as the Kermadec Islands in the north, to Campbell Island in the Subantarctic Islands. Almost all the plants have been grown from cuttings or seeds collected from their original habitat. Plants communities are arranged in their family groups, and in ecosystems created to resemble their original habitats, from dunes to wetlands to mountains. Some plants that now barely exist in the wild are thriving in Ōtari and in private gardens.

And in the bush, natural regeneration has flourished for more than a hundred years, enhanced by hours of revegetation work and predator pest control. Alongside Job Wilton’s protected podocarp-northern rātā forest stand tall tōtara, miro and mātai, their branches often festooned with epiphytic perching plants. Kohekohe, rewarewa, tawa and māhoe trees dominate the upper slopes, and pukatea grow in the valleys among ferns and vines. Stay alert as you wander the trails, no matter the season there always be something going on, the scent of the orchid, the smell of the common basket stinkhorn, the flowering of the kohekohe, the fruiting of the tawa.

And the birds are back!

No longer are the forests silent, as they were when the trees were felled last century then possums ravaged the fruits and seeds and leaves of those that remained. Intensive predator control, natural regeneration and enhanced protection of neighbouring green areas and natural corridors have all helped to return the native birds. There’s more good news, protecting the head of Kaiwharawhara Valley is ecosanctuary Te Māra a Tāne Zealandia and, yes, Ōtari’s now abundant fruits and nectars are enticing many Zealandia-bred birds beyond the fence and down the valley. You can expect to see and hear some of our rarer species, kākāriki, kākā, kārearea and korimako, for example, joining the chorus that now resounds throughout Ōtari.

And don’t forget the little guys, like forest geckos, skinks, glow worms, wētā and, much loved by the young families often seen exploring the Kaiwharawhara Stream, our banded kōkopu and eels (tuna).

The management of today

Wellington Gardens, Wellington City Council, manages Ōtari-Wilton’s Bush according to four themes:

Conservation: raising seedlings of threatened species, and playing a key role in New Zealand’s Indigenous Flora Seedbank programme
Research: conservation science and plant ecology, using the plant collections and Lions Ōtari Native Plant Conservation Laboratory
Education: school and university education programmes, plant labelling for identification
Recreation: development and maintenance of walking tracks, paths, walkways and bridges, picnic lawns, signage and interpretation and the Tāne Whakapiripiri Visitor Centre.

Nine (part time and full time) Wellington Gardens’ staff are based at Ōtari. Most focus on developing the gardens and restoring the forest. Two conservation scientists work in the Lions Ōtari Plant Conservation Laboratory. Others work on various roles, such as database and library management and leading education visits.

The Ōtari-Wilton’s Bush Trust plays a key role in management support, also in advocacy, raising awareness, education, protection, restoration programmes, and conservation research.