News

2024

Waikereru on Restor

Waikereru has been added to the Restor online map of international restoration projects. Restor is an exciting global project that records data from ecologi...

Inspiring TED talk

Check out this inspiring Ted Talk about how indigenous forest restoration can help us save the future for our children and grandchildren.

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2023

Carnivorous snail found!

Extremely rare carnivorous snail found at Waikereru: our eagle-eyed ecologist/trapper Guido spotted this very rare indigenous snail up in the hills, the firs...

Waimatā catchment devastated

The start to 2023 has been a nightmare, with Cyclone Hale in January bringing forestry slash down the river, and Cyclone Gabrielle in February blocking the r...

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2022

Biodiversity survey of Waikereru

A superb botanical survey of Waikereru by Marley Ford, Mark Smale and Kelly Gilbride has just been published in the New Zealand Botanical journal.

Seed Islands racing ahead

Our ‘seed islands’ project is racing ahead, based on expert botanical and geomorphological advice. The idea is to plant ‘seed islands’ of diverse native tre...

Wild Lab Tiaki Taiao secures funding

The Wild Lab Tiaki Taiao is celebrating a major success, securing funding from the Ministry of Education for its workshops for students, and for teachers for...

Longbush Reserve, Gisborne

Lovely comments about Longbush Reserve on the Gisborne District Council website: https://gisbornecity.co.nz/gisborne-blog/longbush-reserve-gisborne/

Harakeke used for river restoration

On 20 April, Robyn Wilkie from Ecoworks hosted a biodiversity restoration workshop on the banks of the Waimata river at Longbush Reserve. The workshop was we...

Seed Island Plantings

We’re figuring out how to use strategic ‘seed island’ plantings in manuka-kanuka regenerating shrublands on the Waikereru Hills to speed up the restoration o...

Wetland Plantings Underway!

Robyn Wilkie and her team planting up the wetland at Waikereru - many thanks to Gisborne District Council for funding and Lois Easton for organising this pro...

Seed Collection Workshop

The Women’s Native Trees Trust had a seed collection workshop in the 1769 Garden, taking seed from some of our plants for other restoration projects in the r...

Team Building Time

A new one for Waikereru. The Wild Lab team helped to facilitate a team building exercise for the local office of BDO Spicer. The birds sang, they climbed P...

Planning Wetlands Plantings

Robyn Wilkie and Lois Easton working out how best to plant up the pond and our wetlands at Waikereru, funded by a grant from the Gisborne District Council Co...

After the Deluge

For the first time in 20 years, both the Waitui and Waikereru stream culverts were completely blocked with wood, rocks and silt. A huge family effort got th...

Dave Hughes, legend

Dave Hughes, who’s in his nineties, is a legend at Waikereru. He’s been planting trees here and populating the streams with eels for the past twenty years, ...

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2021

Wild Lab Tiaki Taiao Evaluation Report

Many thanks to Shaun Akroyd (Ngāti Porou, Ngati Maru/Rongowhakaata) for his highly supportive and meticulous independent review of the Wild Lab Tiaki Taiao p...

Waikereru Falls

The North stream waterfall was absolutely pumping after torrential rainfall (two months of rain in 36 hours)!

Bunnies Rule!

We’ve had a plague of rabbits at Waikereru during lockdown. Ginny Penn, who helps to take care of the gardens, is a gifted artist (like her daughter Brigdhe...

Ngutu kākā mā & Motukeo

The marvellous gift of 20 ngutu kākā mā - rare white kākā beak plants - from Ngāi Kohatu and Ngāti Hinehika, and artist Raewyn Atkinson is now in its full gl...

How to plant a river bank

Robyn Wilkie knows how to hold a river bank together - harakeke at the eroding edges, mānuka, kānuka, totara and cabbage trees further back.

Wild Lab Tiaki Taiao is pumping!

The Wild Lab Tiaki Taiao is pumping. Here’s a group of Eastern Institute of Technology (Tairawhiti) teacher trainees at the Welcome Shelter.

O Tātou Ngāhere - Pure Advantage

It was a pleasure for our Chair to speak at the launch of ‘O Tātou Ngāhere’ campaign at Te Papa, recently, advocating a major expansion of native afforestati...

Let the River Sing

After a formal presentation to Gisborne District Council and an exciting series of meetings with iwi and community leaders, we had a fantastic field day at W...

Harriers making tracks

Kudos to the Harriers who helped Tim (centre) to start forming a new running track at Waikereru. Its going to be a beauty!

Improving Waterways

A great way to start the New Year! The Waimatā River restoration project wins $850,000 from the Freshwater Improvement grant to fence and plant alongside the...

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2020

Jovellana Sinclarii

Wow - Jovellana Sinclarii (native harebell) popping up everywhere along the Waitui stream, beside the new board walk. Lovely to see this rare plant thriving...

Reflecting on Motukeo

Fantastic to see Sarosh Mulla’s Claude Glass installed at Waikereru, reflecting Motukeo. (A scaled up version of a convex obsidian mirror named after the 18...

Fencing upgrade

Hooray! The fence at Waikereru is being upgraded to exclude deer and goats, to protect our rare plants and the birds that rely on them. Many thanks to the L...

Stinky The Stoat

Meet ‘Stinky the Stoat’, for our Pesky Predators Wild Lab workshop. How many wilderness education programmes have costumes made by the costume designer for D...

Waimatā Catchment Map

Check out this map of the blocks and ancestral place names in the Waimatā catchment, drafted by Hamish MacDonald from nineteenth century Native Land Court ma...

Brighde Penn’s beautiful thesis

Brighde Penn, who was brought up on Cave Road in the Waimatā Valley, has written this beautifully illustrated and thoughtful thesis on the mask workshops she...

Waitui Walkway

Waitui Walkway - our second lockdown project, with the proud bridge builder. Once the weeds were cleared away we discovered this beautiful little ampitheatr...

Pōpokotea in Longbush Reserve!

This morning Steve Sawyer saw a flock of about six pōpokotea (whiteheads) in Longbush Reserve. Its wonderful that these rare little birds - whiteheads and to...

Waterway tracks in lockdown

Jeremy and Anne have been making tracks in lockdown. First effort - a 800 metre track up the Waikereru Stream. Absolutely beautiful, with clouds of pīwaiwa...

Bag moth - the original self-isolator

A common bag moth or pū a Raukatauri (Liothula omnivore) found climbing the wall of the house – a variation on incy-wincy-spider, and clearly very determined...

Pā Harakeke on the move!

Janine Te Reo, kai-tiaki of the Rene Orchiston pā harakeke, has pointed out that the flax plants are being crowded by the trees in the Arboretum, and suggest...

Waikereru Wetland Concept

Led by trustee Lois Easton, we’re planning to create a new wetland around the old farm pond at Waikereru.

Wild Lab Tiaki Taiao - ANZET Report

With heartfelt thanks to Pete and Elle Jarratt, Wild Lab Tiaki Taiao, our wilderness programme for kids, had a brilliant year in 2019. Here’s our report to ...

Robyn spots a Robin!

Robyn Wilkie spotted a toutouwai (N. Island robin) from our relocation programme some years back towards the north end of Longbush Reserve; and Malcolm Ruthe...

New Wild Lab / TT Costumes

Homage to Brighde Penn from Waimatā, and Ruby from Wales for these spectacular costumes of a kereru and mayfly (and a mayfly puppet) for the Wild Lab / Tiaki...

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2019

Kosmos Lecture, Berlin

Our chair delivers the last Kosmos lecture in Berlin, thinking about environmental challenges outside the modernist square.

1769 Garden talk @ FCBG

Malcolm Rutherford’s recent talk on the 1769 Garden to the Friends of the Christchurch Botanical Garden was much appreciated. See the report on Malcolm’s tal...

A feast fit for the manu

A wonderful flowering of plants this year has resulted in crowds of birds taking advantage of Nature’s generosity. Tūī, Korimako and Tauhou have been raidin...

Turn Back Time

A marvellous story about the 1769 Garden and its people (Philip Smith, Malcolm Rutherford, Graeme Atkins) in the latest New Zealand Gardener ​magazine.

Tahitian visitors

Such a pleasure to host some of the Tahitian delegation to Moana Nui and Tuia 250 at Waikereru, and show them the Tupaia mistletoe in the 1769 Garden - now e...

1769 garden in full bloom

The 1769 Garden is in full bloom, with kowhai and kaka beak and other more retiring, less dramatic flowers appearing in time for our Tuia 250 visitors.

Absolutely gutted!

Bad news from DoC’s Community Conservation Fund. No ongoing pest and weed control funding for Waikereru. Not sure how our Trust could do more to support bio...

The future of East Cape forests

Our joint presentation about the state of Tairāwhiti forests (Trust chair Anne Salmond, trustee Graeme Atkins and Natalie Robertson) at the Environmental Def...

Strategic Planning Session

Awesome strategic planning session for Longbush Ecological Trust, with Malcolm Rutherford, Graeme Atkins, Jennie Harre-Hindmarsh, Lois Easton, Steve Sawyer, ...

DOC Working Bee at Donner’s Bush

Ka mau te wehi! Anna Barber from DOC and Hawaiiki Hou kura kaupapa working bee at Donner’s Bush. Can’t wait to see those plants springing up out of the gro...

​I Too am in Paradise

Such a pleasure to have artist Raewyn Atkinson come to Waikereru with 20 kowhai ngutu kākā mā​ (white kaka beak) after her successful exhibition ‘I Too am in...

​Harriers Club Trail Run

The Gisborne Harriers descended on Waikereru for their annual Longbush run, in support of the Gisborne Stroke Foundation. Brilliant turnout with 86 runners ...

Dreams can become real

Anne and Jeremy are in Munich, Germany, where they’ve had inspiring meetings with local foresters and river restoration experts.

Tohunga Taiao at work

Graeme Atkins brings plants from the Tairawhiti heartland and puts them in the 1769 Garden, where the Wild Lab / Tiaki Taiao introduces them to local kids in...

1769 Garden from the Air

Great to see the 1769 Garden looking amazing - thanks to Malcolm Rutherford, Philip Smith and Graeme Atkins​ (and David Bergin, who took the photos). Its sti...

Wild Lab: Makaraka School

Thanks to funding support from Air NZ Environment Trust, the Sunshine Trust and UNESCO, the Wild Lab / Tiaki Taio wilderness programme for local kids is goin...

BGANZ visit the 1769 Garden

Fantastic to see the experts turning up to inspect the 1769 Garden. Malcolm Rutherford, its curator, showing the Garden off to delegates from BGANZ, Botanica...

Wild Lab: Makauri School

The Wild Lab / Tiaki Taiao wilderness programme for local kids is taking off like a rocket, thanks to Pete and Elle Jarratt. Waikereru is full of their laugh...

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2018

Farm Forestry group share ideas

Great to welcome the local Farm Forestry group, and share our experience and theirs with the restoration of steep, erodible hill country and its use for carb...

NZIA Gold Medal

Great news - our founder Jeremy Salmond has been awarded the NZIA Gold Medal, and the citation includes his design work at Waikereru.

Waimatā River Hui

Two exciting, jam-packed community meetings in Gisborn​e last week to discuss the current state and future of the Waimatā River, followed by an excellent mee...

Harriers test track upgrades

Many thanks to the Eastland Community Trust for funding an upgrade to our signage and the tracks around the Welcome Shelter.

Hawkes Bay DOC visit

Pete and Elle Jarratt talking about the Wild Lab with our visitors from Hawkes Bay DOC & Cape to City.

1769 Garden update

The 1769 Garden is only a couple of years old, but it’s starting to look great!

Torrent Fish in Waimatā River

How exciting. A torrent fish has just been discovered in the Waimatā River by the Gisborne District Council science team - the first of its kind in the catch...

Ruru at Waitui Bridge

Steve and Tim Salmond were standing on the Waitui bridge at midday when this ruru flew under the bridge and perched on a nearby tree.

Donner’s Bush Restoration Update

What a team! EIT and YMCA students have restored another long stretch of Donner’s Bush. Great to see the weeds disappearing and the ground cover and lower ca...

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2017

Visit by DOC Director-General

We’ve had an exciting time at Waikereru lately, with a visit by Lou Sanson, Director-General of the Department of Conservation. He took this photo of Charles...

Wild Lab Workshop at the 1769 Garden

Great to see Pete and Elle work their magic in another Wild Lab workshop, this time inspiring local children to engage with the plants in the 1769 Garden.

We’re changing our name!

The trustees have decided to change the name of the Ecosanctuary to its original name, Waikereru. The Kereru is our guardian bird, which features on our seal...

Longbush Poplars

After losing a massive Poplar at Longbush, it’s humbling (and slightly worrying) to gaze up at the survivors as they negotiate their personal space and deal ...

David Bergin from Trees that Count

Great to host David and Susan Bergin at Longbush, to discuss the possibility of setting up a trial native plantation at Longbush. An exciting prospect.

Kids’ art in Longbush

Pete and Elle Jarratt work their magic with kids, art and the bush. A great art exhibition in Longbush Reserve!

Artefact at Longbush

Fantastic fun having the Artefact documentary team shooting at Longbush - with Janine Te Reo and her students at the Pa Harakeke / Rene Orchiston collection.

Pa Hill footbridge

Clearing the site for the new bridge at the foot of Pa Hill, watched by two curious tomtits - male and female. Looking forward to clutches of baby tomtits at...

Poplar Uprising

Nature takes its course… of course. A poplar gives up the ghost at Longbush - a harbinger of things to come? These trees are showing signs of age and we’re c...

Taking care of the Waimatā River

Its great to be working with local researchers Sheridan Gundry, Murray Palmer and Mike Marden, and University of Auckland scientists Dan Hikuroa, Carola Cull...

Conservation boards visit

It was great to welcome the East Coast and Chatham Island Conservation Boards to Longbush lately, including some old friends. Such an enjoyable visit.

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2016

Its Oi time again at Longbush

This year we’re translocating 16 oi chicks from Young Nick’s Head to the inland colony at Longbush. They’re flourishing, and 6 have already flown off on thei...

Wild Lab hits town

The Wild Lab had another workshop at Longbush on Saturday, this time featuring the koura (native crayfish). Pete and Elle Jarratt with Murray Palmer, freshwa...

Botanical Bling

Give Papa-tuanuku half a chance, and she produces wonders - like these native orchids, discovered by Malcolm Rutherford at Longbush. Thanks to the Clark Trus...

Donner’s Bush comes back to life

DOC, EIT, Longbush Trust and Riverside Road residents have got together to restore Donner’s Bush. What a brilliant initiative. Hats off to Charles Barrie at ...

More fun at Longbush

The Wild Lab programme for kids and teachers has kicked off, with Pete and Elle Jarratt running two highly successful workshops at the Ecosanctuary. See this...

A New Year at Longbush 2016

What a magic summer at Longbush! A kids’ art exhibition with Pete and Elle Jarratt in Longbush Reserve; 11 titi installed in artificial burrows up in the Wai...

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2015

Snowy Hills

Check out the Longbush Alphine Resort - cottage and hills in snow! First time in decades. Ski lift coming soon. (Courtesy Colin McNab)

1769 Garden Planting Starts

Philip Smith (landscape designer) and Malcolm Rutherford (QEII) chat as planting of the 1769 Garden gets under way in early June.

Kiwi Courtship

Anne and Jeremy’s kiwi namesakes, Ani and Jem, have been found together in their burrow at Whinray Reserve, Motu. According to Steve Sawyer, “Jem is an extre...

The 1769 Garden is coming!

Philip Smith of 02 Landscapes has produced this brilliant plan for the 1769 Garden at Longbush, to be planted in front of the Welcome Shelter. This garden wi...

Welcome Shelter Open!

The Longbush Welcome Shelter has been formally opened by Meng Foon, the Mayor of Gisborne, and is creating a big buzz in architectural circles and in the loc...

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2014

Welcome to the Welcome Shelter

After a year of marvellous effort and unstinting, warm-hearted contributions from a wide array of volunteers and sponsors, Sarosh’s master work, the Welcome ...

The Bridge Club

We’ve just christened the new bridge in Longbush Reserve with the Eastland Institute of Technology carpentry students who built it, and their tutor Ben Steve...

Tomtit at Longbush

Amy England from Ecoworks just spotted this miromiro (tomtit) in the Waikereru Hills at Longbush - looks as though they may be breeding. Great to have a safe...

Freshwater survey report

Many thanks to Murray Palmer for an excellent report on the freshwater ecosystems at Longbush, which we aim to make a haven in the region for freshwater spec...

A bridge in the bush

Matt Evans and his team at the Eastland Institute of Technology are building this bridge in Longbush Reserve, funded by the Williams Trusts and the Eastern a...

Welcome Shelter update

It’s time for an update on the Longbush Welcome Shelter. As we head into winter, preparations are being made at Longbush for the onset of some wetter weather...

Welcome Shelter update

Sarosh Mulla and his fabulous team of volunteers have spent the summer break erecting the Welcome Shelter at Longbush - a ground-breaking exercise in collabo...

Landcare botany report

Dr. Mark Smale of Landcare Research has written an excellent report on the botany of Longbush Ecosanctuary by landform, including the surrounding Protected M...

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2013

Introducing the Welcome Shelter!

The Welcome Shelter at the Longbush Ecosanctuary is the brainchild of a remarkable young architect, Sarosh Mulla. Read all about the project here.

The Flight of the Titi

Another flock of 10 titi took off from Longbush on their journey across the Pacific this Christmas. They are attracted by bright lights, but luckily, decided...

Welcome Shelter / Workers’ Shed

Sarosh Mulla, a PhD student in Architecture at the University of Auckland and a brilliant, award-winning young designer, is designing a Welcome Shelter for L...

Christmas at Longbush

Christmas at Longbush this year was special, with long, hot blue days and bursts of rain - the plantings seemed to grow before our eyes! Ten titi chicks fled...

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2012

Bat Chat

A few nights ago, Patsy confirmed the presence of long-tailed bats in Longbush Reserve. As they flew around chasing moths, they clicked, using sonar to try ...

The Waimatā turns to a river of mud

Recent flooding of the Waimatā River caused the banks to collapse, and the river turned to liquid mud. As a result, our Chairperson Dame Anne wrote a plea to...

World first at Longbush

The amazing Ecoworks team have created a world first by establishing and successfully rearing the first inland colony of Titi (grey Petrels). These were tran...

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2011

Donner’s Bush

We had an excellent meeting with Andy Bassett, head of the DOC office in Gisborne, to discuss Donner’s Bush, the DOC Scenic Reserve south of Longbush. Donner...

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