a day ago
Regeneration reaches new heights
Orokonui's rare plants garden in 2010. PHOTO: ODT FILES Tracking change at Orokonui Ecosanctuary goes in leaps and strides, writes Madison Kelly.
For a project with a 1000-year plan, reaching milestones can be a waiting game. Eye-catching outcomes like gangs of kākā in flight, or a casually roaming whānau of takahē are obvious even to first-time visitors to Orokonui. Other developments take their time, building slowly until, suddenly, change can't be ignored.
The sanctuary's re-planted zones are one such gauge of progress, measured in careful proliferations of leaves, branches, roots — and a whole lot of human effort. Comparing photos of the rare plants garden from its first planting in 2010 to the present day, an immense story unfolds. Introduced as a bespoke site for threatened plant species to grow, safe from browsing mammals, the garden is found just inside the fenceline along the Kākā Track.
Along a gentle loop, visitors can find examples of uncommon plants, such as east coast mountain daisies Celmisia hookeri, or spiny perfumed taramea, Aciphylla ferox. Many plantings represent species rare in the wild, such as the fierce lancewood Pseudopanax ferox, or intricately branching Olearia fragrantissima.
The garden's plot and tracks were established with the help of volunteer Graeme Cook. A suite of volunteers and sanctuary staff supported the garden's early growth with sourcing, growing and planting treasured species. At its initiation, dedicating a site to plant advocacy and seeing those first sweeping blooms of Celmisia was a landmark achievement. Nowadays, new planting milestones are occurring throughout the valley.
Further along the Kākā Track, just before the first feeding station, regenerating habitat is beginning to converge. Once separated in their youth by wide gravel tracks, trees dispersed from early sanctuary plantings are finally forming the early hint of a canopy. Guiding groups along regenerating sections of the Kākā Track in 2025 yields wildly different results compared to even five years ago. What were once exposed trails are now rich tapestries of light and shadow, harbouring an understorey attractive enough for foraging kakaruai/robins.
Orokonui's rare plants garden in 2024. PHOTO: ODT FILES
As regeneration (literally) reaches new heights, sanctuary mahi leans on vital tasks like weeding and track maintenance. Regular volunteer groups such as the Eastern boundary "Gorse Assassins'' tackle invasive species making a home in the valley, and kaimahi of the Pā Harakeke keep plants in the living archive safe. With each season of habitat growth, track maintenance becomes more necessary for both public experience and conservation operations. Clearing track boundaries or crowded understoreys creates safe passage and sightlines for visitors. Away from public areas, more than 60km of narrow monitoring trails also need to be carved out and maintained. Monitoring tracks are integral lifelines for Orokonui's operational work. More than a thousand tracking tunnels and hundreds of traps are situated along these tracks, ready to be deployed in the case of incursion. At least twice a year, the same tracks become causeways for skilled conservation dogs and their handlers undertaking biosecurity audits to ensure the sanctuary is still predator free. Recently, months of collective surveying along monitoring paths have helped us record and understand the distribution of South Island tīeke, a taoka species still in the early crucial stages of translocation.
It may be surprising to learn that such an essential part of the sanctuary is currently being maintained by just a few staff and volunteers. This dedicated cohort is never short of jobs — vegetation cutting, gravelling, clearing windfall, raking leaf buildup, sweeping structures and signs, digging out culverts and water tables.
While much of the mahi happens away from the public eye on the sanctuary's "closed'' days, the demand is constant. In this new era beyond active planting, towards a self-dispersing ecosystem, caring for our most utilised yet underrated track systems is a must. A new season of life and work in the sanctuary is afoot, with the need for a dedicated track team growing almost as fast as the grasslands! If you're interested in helping us clear the paths ahead, contact volunteer@
Madison Kelly is head kaiārahi/guide at Te Korowai o Mihiwaka Orokonui Ecosanctuary.
