The Sanctuary site

The Sanctuary will extend over c. 715 hectares of a former Water Reserve owned by Nelson City Council.  Most of the site is mature beech forest with occasional huge podocarps but the southern part is diverse broadleaved forest on land cleared in the 19th Century. Over 250 species of plants have been recorded and the birdlife includes rarer species such as NZ falcon, yellow-crowned parakeets, weka and robins.

The site is an ideal size and location. It is a short distance from Nelson City, Stoke and Richmond with forested corridors to take birdlife from the sanctuary into these areas and into residents’ gardens. It is joined to the south to 100,000’s of hectares of native forest including the Mt Richmond Conservation Area.

Operation of the sanctuary

• The sanctuary is administered by a charitable trust with a board of 10 trustees – three representing project partners: DOC, NMIT (Nelson polytech) and local iwi, and others as individuals. All trustees are volunteers. Different areas of trust work are the responsibility of sub-committees.
• The Trust is chaired by Dr David Butler
• The Trust has recently appointed Rick Field as Sanctuary Coordinator. Rick works from the Brook office which is based in the “J” Block of NMIT, 337 Hardy Street, Nelson.

Support to date

• The Trust has over 400 members
• The NCC has endorsed the use of its land for a Sanctuary and provided an initial 3-year operational grant.
• The construction of the entrance building has been a team effort. The design was donated by a prominent local architect; key funding was provided by the Canterbury Community Trust and the Baigent Family Trust; NMIT Carpentry School students and tutors undertook the initial construction as a donation to the project as part of their training; and local businesses and individuals have provided generous support.
• Around $500,000 has been raised to date.