The Brook Waimārama Sanctuary is a nearly 700 hectare mainland "

ecological island An ecological island is a term used in New Zealand, and increasingly in Australia, to refer to an area of land (not necessarily an actual island) isolated by natural or artificial means from the surrounding land, where a natural micro-habitat exists ...

" sanctuary located 6 km south of

Nelson, New Zealand (Let him, who has earned it, bear the palm) , image_map = Nelson CC.PNG , mapsize = 200px , map_caption = , coordinates = , coor_pinpoint = , coordinates_footnotes = ...

. The sanctuary is the largest fenced sanctuary in New Zealand's South Island and the second largest in the country; it is the only sanctuary to feature mature New Zealand beech forest. The Brook Waimārama Sanctuary Trust was established in 2004 with the intent of restoring the flora and fauna of the Brook Valley, a former water supply for Nelson with intact

beech Beech (''Fagus'') is a genus of deciduous trees in the family Fagaceae, native to temperate Europe, Asia, and North America. Recent classifications recognize 10 to 13 species in two distinct subgenera, ''Engleriana'' and ''Fagus''. The ''Engle ...

forest. A predator-proof fence was completed in 2016 at a cost of NZD $4.2 million, and introduced mammalian pests were eradicated from within the sanctuary in 2017. The sanctuary reopened to the public in 2018, and an entrance fee regime was introduced in 2020. Reintroductions of species such as the

Okarito kiwi The Okarito kiwi (''Apteryx rowi''), also known as the rowi or Okarito brown kiwi, is a member of the kiwi family Apterygidae, described as new to science in 2003. The species is part of the brown kiwi complex, and is morphologically very s ...

and

tuatara Tuatara (''Sphenodon punctatus'') are reptiles endemic to New Zealand. Despite their close resemblance to lizards, they are part of a distinct lineage, the order Rhynchocephalia. The name ''tuatara'' is derived from the Māori language and m ...

are planned.

Origins

The Brook Valley immediately south of

Nelson Nelson may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Nelson'' (1918 film), a historical film directed by Maurice Elvey * ''Nelson'' (1926 film), a historical film directed by Walter Summers * ''Nelson'' (opera), an opera by Lennox Berkeley to a lib ...

is a water-supply reserve owned for over 100 years by the

Nelson City Council Nelson City Council is a unitary local authority. It has its headquarters in Nelson. History Nelson City Council was created in 1992. Local governance of Nelson began with Nelson Province in 1853, which covered the entire upper South Island. ...

. The Nelson Waterworks Reserve was created in 1865, encompassing the watershed of the Brook Stream. A dam was built and an oval reservoir were constructed that held a two-week water supply for the city; they opened on 16 April 1868. A second dam was built in 1905, and a third in 1909, to create enough water pressure to supply houses in the hills around Nelson. The dams were plagued with leaks, and the city's water needs continued to grow. A dam and pipeline were built on the

Roding River The Roding River is a river of the Tasman Region of New Zealand's South Island. It flows generally southwest from its sources in the hills above the city of Nelson, reaching the Wairoa River five kilometres south of Richmond. The rock type Rodi ...

in 1941, and the

Maitai River The Maitai River (also known as the Mahitahi River) is the largest river in the city of Nelson, in the north of New Zealand's South Island. The river stretches from the Bryant Range, situated to the east (inland) of Nelson, where it flows toward ...

was dammed in 1987. Together these rendered the Brook waterworks obsolete, and it was decommissioned in 2000. The valley also contained the

Dun Mountain railway The Dun Mountain Railway was a privately owned and operated narrow gauge, long horse-drawn tramway from chromite mines in the vicinity of Duppa Lode on the eastern slopes of Wooded Peak to Nelson port in the Tasman District of New Zealand's ...

line, New Zealand's first railway, which was a horse-drawn tramway built in the 1860s to service a

chromite Chromite is a crystalline mineral composed primarily of iron(II) oxide and chromium(III) oxide compounds. It can be represented by the chemical formula of FeCr2O4. It is an oxide mineral belonging to the spinel group. The element magnesium can s ...

mine. In the 1890s two coal mines operated nearby. Planning for turning the Brook Valley into a predator-free wildlife sanctuary began with the formation of a steering committee in mid-2001, and in 2004 the Brook Waimārama Sanctuary Trust was formed as a community group. The valley was only 5 km from Nelson, backed onto 1660 km²

Mount Richmond Forest Park Mount Richmond Forest Park is a forest park in New Zealand, administered by the Department of Conservation. Established in 1977, the forest park is located between Nelson and Marlborough and consists of of conservation estate. Around 80% of the ...

, and included the 690 ha Waterworks Reserve. Although its lower reaches had been initially cleared for grazing livestock and were regenerating, the beech forest in the upper reaches had been preserved as a water-supply reserve and was intact. In 2007–2008 the Nelson City Council approved $1.036 million and the

Tasman District Council Tasman District Council ( mi, Te Kaunihera o te tai o Aorere) is the unitary local authority for the Tasman District of New Zealand. The council is led by the mayor of Tasman, who is currently . Tasman elects its 13 councillors from five differ ...

$300,000 of funding to begin the project.

Fencing

The plan for the Brook Waimārama included a predator-proof fence, to prevent reinvasion by introduced predatory mammals after eradication had been completed. A resource consent for the fence was secured in 2009, and the fence route surveyed in 2010. The area to be protected was three times the size of

Zealandia Zealandia (pronounced ), also known as (Māori) or Tasmantis, is an almost entirely submerged mass of continental crust that subsided after breaking away from Gondwanaland 83–79 million years ago.Gurnis, M., Hall, C.E., and Lavier, L.L., ...

, with a fence twice as long – the largest wildlife sanctuary in the

South Island The South Island, also officially named , is the larger of the two major islands of New Zealand in surface area, the other being the smaller but more populous North Island. It is bordered to the north by Cook Strait, to the west by the Tasman ...

, and the second-largest in New Zealand. The predator-proof fence was finished in September 2016 after 12 years of planning and 18 months of construction. The fence is 14.4 km long, and cost $4.2 million. In addition to the Nelson City Council and Tasman District Council funding, $574,000 was raised in donations (including a one-off anonymous donation of $250,000), and the remaining $1.75 million came from a

Lottery A lottery is a form of gambling that involves the drawing of numbers at random for a prize. Some governments outlaw lotteries, while others endorse it to the extent of organizing a national or state lottery. It is common to find some degree of ...

grant. An electric wire runs the length of the fence hood to detect when branches fall on it that might allow a predator to cross.

Pest control

A trapping programme began in a small area of secondary forest in 2006 aimed at controlling possum, rat, mice,

stoat The stoat (''Mustela erminea''), also known as the Eurasian ermine, Beringian ermine and ermine, is a mustelid native to Eurasia and the northern portions of North America. Because of its wide circumpolar distribution, it is listed as Least Conc ...

and

weasel Weasels are mammals of the genus ''Mustela'' of the family Mustelidae. The genus ''Mustela'' includes the least weasels, polecats, stoats, ferrets and European mink. Members of this genus are small, active predators, with long and slender bo ...

populations. A team of volunteers cut 22 km of tracks spaced 100 m apart around the valley, allowing traps to be set up on a 100 m grid (50 m around the perimeter). The traps were baited weekly. Shooters also killed about 100

goat The goat or domestic goat (''Capra hircus'') is a domesticated species of goat-antelope typically kept as livestock. It was domesticated from the wild goat (''C. aegagrus'') of Southwest Asia and Eastern Europe. The goat is a member of the a ...

s that had been ring-barking trees in the valley. Three aerial drops of 26.5 tonnes of

brodifacoum Brodifacoum is a highly lethal 4-hydroxycoumarin vitamin K antagonist anticoagulant poison. In recent years, it has become one of the world's most widely used pesticides. It is typically used as a rodenticide, but is also used to control larger p ...

-laced bait to eliminate all rodents within the fence were planned for July to October 2017. This action was challenged in June by a group calling themselves the Brook Valley Community Group (BVCG), led by Nelson lawyer Sue Grey, who protested the aerial poison drop near a waterway. Although portraying themselves as a community group, many of the organisers were anti-

1080 Year 1080 (Roman numerals, MLXXX) was a leap year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. Events By place Byzantine Empire * Autumn – Nikephoros Melissenos, a Byzantine general and ar ...

activists from outside Nelson. The drop was halted while the case went to the High Court on 7 August, and then, two days before the first drop, to the

Court of Appeal A court of appeals, also called a court of appeal, appellate court, appeal court, court of second instance or second instance court, is any court of law that is empowered to hear an appeal of a trial court or other lower tribunal. In much of t ...

; in both cases the court ruled against the BVCG. Nelson MP Nick Smith was accosted on 3 September 2017 (the day of the first drop) by two protesters who abused him, rubbed rat poison in his face, and threatened his family. That same day, a hole was drilled in a fuel tank for helicopters performing the drop, several protesters attempted to block access, and three were arrested. The three poison drops subsequently went ahead smoothly, and no bait was dropped outside the sanctuary boundaries, nor was any trace of brodifacoum detected in the stream water. The BVCG attempted to take their appeal to the

Supreme Court A supreme court is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts in most legal jurisdictions. Other descriptions for such courts include court of last resort, apex court, and high (or final) court of appeal. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...

, but were denied, and they were ordered to pay over $70,000 in legal costs to the Nelson City Council, the Minister for the Environment, and the Brook Waimārama Sanctuary Trust. The group considered disbanding as an incorporated society to avoid having to pay the costs and "starting again somewhere else". After attempting to recover some of the $100,000 it had spent responding to the BVCG's legal action, the Nelson City Council applied for the group to be liquidated. After six months of monitoring, the sanctuary was declared "pest free" in 2018, with at least 14 pest species removed from within the fence, including rats, stoats, and

deer Deer or true deer are hoofed ruminant mammals forming the family Cervidae. The two main groups of deer are the Cervinae, including the muntjac, the elk (wapiti), the red deer, and the fallow deer; and the Capreolinae, including the reindeer ...

. A four-monthly testing regime checks for presence of rodents; as of May 2019 there had been two breaches of the fence, both individual rats which were dealt with shortly afterwards. In the year following the elimination of rodents there was 400 per cent increase in the numbers of tui and bellbirds, and a 200 per cent increase in fantails and

tomtit The tomtit (''Petroica macrocephala'') is a small passerine bird in the family Petroicidae The bird family Petroicidae includes 51 species in 19 genera. All are endemic to Australasia: New Guinea, Australia, New Zealand and numerous Pacific ...

s. There were also notable increases in the number of ground

invertebrate Invertebrates are a paraphyletic group of animals that neither possess nor develop a vertebral column (commonly known as a ''backbone'' or ''spine''), derived from the notochord. This is a grouping including all animals apart from the chordate ...

s and tree seedlings.

Reopening

The sanctuary reopened to the public on Sunday 15 July 2018. It featured an outdoor classroom space with electricity for visiting school groups, a wheelchair-accessible loop track, and bridges over the former dams. The visitor centre, designed by John Palmer of Palmer & Palmer Architects, had been operating since 2007. A wheelchair-accessible bridge was scheduled to be opened in February 2020, but the Sanctuary was forced to temporarily close due to the high summer fire risk.

Gallery

File:Brook Waimarama Sanctuary.jpg, View from air File:Brook Waimārama MRD 01.jpg, View up the valley File:Brook Waimārama MRD 17.jpg, Beech grove outdoor classroom File:The Brook Waimarama Sanctuary.jpg, Weir File:Weir in Brook Valley Stream.jpg, Another view of the weir File:Weir at Brook Waimārama Sanctuary, Nelson.jpg File:Brook Waimārama MRD 07.jpg, Shining spleenwort (''Asplenium oblongifolium'') File:Ferny Forest Floor (Brook Waimarama Sanctuary).jpg, Ferns on the forest floor File:Brook Waimārama MRD 09.jpg, QR code for tracking tunnel File:Brook Waimārama MRD 23.jpg, Visitor centre File:Weka at Brook.jpg, Weka and chick

Governance

From 2004 to 2019 the Brook Waimārama Sanctuary Trust was chaired by Dave Butler, who had been involved with the project from the beginning; he had previously managed the ecological island setup at Lake Rotoiti in

Nelson Lakes National Park Nelson Lakes National Park is in the South Island of New Zealand, at the northern end of the Southern Alps. It was formed after the passing of the National Parks Act in 1952. It was created in 1956 (one of four created in the 1950s). The park co ...

. The Acting Chair Peter Jamieson was replaced in 2019 by Chris Hawkes. The first general manager of the Trust was Hudson Dodd, who started in January 2012 and played a major role in the fundraising for the fence and pest removal. Dodd stepped down in November 2018 and was replaced as CEO in January 2019 by Ru Collin. As part of Nelson City Council's Long Term Plan, the sanctuary received $250,000 for the 2018–2019 financial year, with a further $150,000 each year for the nine remaining years of the Plan. One third of the Sanctuary's annual budget comes from Nelson City Council, the

Department of Conservation An environmental ministry is a national or subnational government agency politically responsible for the environment and/or natural resources. Various other names are commonly used to identify such agencies, such as Ministry of the Environment ...

, and Jasmine Social Investments; the remainder is from sponsorship and donations. After missing out on $50,000 of additional Council funding its annual budget, previously $850,000, dropped to $660,000. In January 2020 the Sanctuary announced that it would be replacing its voluntary entry fee of $5 ($15 for families) with a compulsory fee of $15 for adults, $8 dollars for those under 15 years, and $40 for families. These fees would be halved for Nelson or Tasman residents, students, and unwaged.

Flora

Brook Waimārama Sanctuary contains over 250 species of vascular plants, including pukatea (''

Laurelia novae-zelandiae ''Laurelia novae-zelandiae'', also called pukatea, is a large evergreen tree, endemic to the forests of New Zealand. Pukatea has 'toothed' leaves and produces small flowers. It is a species in the Atherospermataceae (formerly Monimiaceae) family ...

'') and tawa (''

Beilschmiedia tawa ''Beilschmiedia tawa'', the tawa, is a New Zealand broadleaf tree common in the central parts of the country. Tawa is often the dominant canopy tree species in lowland forests in the North Island and the north east of the South Island, but wi ...

)'' which are close to their southern limits here. About two thirds of the valley consists of intact

Southern beech ''Nothofagus'', also known as the southern beeches, is a genus of 43 species of trees and shrubs native to the Southern Hemisphere in southern South America (Chile, Argentina) and Australasia (east and southeast Australia, New Zealand, New Gui ...

forest, including all five beech species, along with

mataī ''Prumnopitys taxifolia'', the mataī ( mi, mataī) or black pine, is an endemic (ecology), endemic New Zealand coniferous tree that grows on the North Island and South Island. It also occurs on Stewart Island/Rakiura (47 °S) but is uncommon ...

rimu ''Dacrydium cupressinum'', commonly known as rimu, is a large evergreen coniferous tree endemic to the forests of New Zealand. It is a member of the southern conifer group, the podocarps. The Māori name ''rimu'' comes from the Polynesian ...

, and

tōtara ''Podocarpus totara'' (; from the Maori-language ; the spelling "totara" is also common in English) is a species of podocarp tree endemic to New Zealand. It grows throughout the North Island and northeastern South Island in lowland, montane and ...

. The remainder in the north-west is a mixture of

kānuka ''Kunzea ericoides'', commonly known as kānuka, kanuka, white tea-tree or burgan, is a tree or shrub in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae and is endemic to New Zealand. It has white or pink flowers similar to those of '' Leptospermum'' and from it ...

mānuka ''Leptospermum scoparium'', commonly called mānuka, () mānuka myrtle, New Zealand teatree, broom tea-tree, or just tea tree, is a species of flowering plant in the myrtle family Myrtaceae, native to New Zealand (including the Chatham Islands ...

, and regenerating broadleaf forest. Brook Waimārama MRD 06

Threatened species

* Red mistletoe (''

Peraxilla tetrapetala ''Peraxilla tetrapetala'', or red mistletoe, is a parasitic plant in the family Loranthaceae, endemic to New Zealand and found on both the North and South Islands. The Māori names for the plant are pikirangi, pirirangi and roeroe. It is a shru ...

'')

Uncommon species

* Forest parsley fern ('' Botrychium biforme'') * Gully tree fern ('' Alsophila cunninghami'') * Lace filmy fern (''

Hymenophyllum flexuosum ''Hymenophyllum'' is a genus of ferns in the family Hymenophyllaceae. Its name means "membranous leaf", referring to the very thin translucent tissue of the fronds, which gives rise to the common name filmy fern for this and other thin-leaved fern ...

'') * Notched glade fern ('' Hypolepsis distans'') * Green mistletoe (''

Ileostylus micranthus ''Ileostylus micranthus'', commonly known as green mistletoe pikirangi; pirinoa; pirirangi; pirita; small-flowered mistletoe, is a species of mistletoe in the family Loranthaceae. Description ''Ileostylus micranthus'' is a mistletoe native to ...

'') * Velvet fern (''

Lastreopsis velutina ''Lastreopsis'', known as shieldfern, is a genus of ferns in the family Dryopteridaceae, subfamily Elaphoglossoideae, in the Pteridophyte Phylogeny Group classification of 2016 (PPG I). Species , the ''Checklist of Ferns and Lycophytes of the Wo ...

'') * Bamboo grass ('' Microlaena polynoda'')

Fauna

Tui, bellbirds, fantails,

kererū The kererū (''Hemiphaga novaeseelandiae'') or New Zealand pigeon is a species of pigeon native to New Zealand. Johann Friedrich Gmelin described the bird in 1789 as a large, conspicuous pigeon up to in length and in weight, with a white br ...

grey warbler The grey warbler (''Gerygone igata''), also known by its Māori name or outside New Zealand as the grey gerygone, is an insectivorous bird in the family Acanthizidae endemic to New Zealand. Its natural habitat is temperate forests. It is sometim ...

s, brown creepers,

silvereye The silvereye or wax-eye (''Zosterops lateralis'') is a very small omnivorous passerine bird of the south-west Pacific. In Australia and New Zealand its common name is sometimes white-eye, but this name is more commonly used to refer to all membe ...

s, and tomtits are common in the sanctuary, and

South Island robin The South Island robin (''Petroica australis''), also known in Māori as the Kakaruwai., is a sparrow-sized bird found only in New Zealand, where it has the status of a protected endemic species. The birds are sparsely distributed through the ...

s and

riflemen A rifleman is an infantry soldier armed with a rifled long gun. Although the rifleman role had its origin with 16th century hand cannoneers and 17th century musketeers, the term originated in the 18th century with the introduction of the rif ...

, which had previously lived in the upper reaches, are increasingly venturing into the valley bottom. In April 2021, the sanctuary reached a milestone with first species reintroduction 40 tīeke/

South Island saddleback The South Island saddleback or tīeke (''Philesturnus carunculatus'') is a forest bird in the New Zealand wattlebird family which is endemic to the South Island of New Zealand. Both the North Island saddleback and this species were formerly cons ...

(''Philesturnus carunculatus)'' were released into the sanctuary''.'' Some nationally uncommon species are also present, such as New Zealand falcons/

kārearea The New Zealand falcon ( mi, kārearea or ''kāiaia''; ''Falco novaeseelandiae'') is New Zealand's only falcon. Other common names for the bird are Bush Hawk and Sparrow Hawk. It is frequently mistaken for the larger and more common swamp harrie ...

. The Sanctuary's long-term plan is to re-introduce several threatened bird species: *

Rowi The Okarito kiwi (''Apteryx rowi''), also known as the rowi or Okarito brown kiwi, is a member of the kiwi family Apterygidae, described as new to science in 2003. The species is part of the brown kiwi complex, and is morphologically very si ...

or Okarito kiwi (''Apteryx rowi''), from the population on

Motuara Island Motuara Island is a scenic and historical reserve that lies at the entrance to Queen Charlotte Sound / Tōtaranui. It is notable for the actions of List of New Zealand places named by James Cook, James Cook. During 's stay at nearby Ship Cove (New ...

(although this has been delayed several years following a rat incursion in September 2018) *

Orange-fronted parakeet The orange-fronted parakeet or orange-fronted conure (''Eupsittula canicularis''), also known as the half-moon conure, is a medium-sized parrot that is resident from western Mexico to Costa Rica. Taxonomy The orange-fronted parakeet was Species ...

/ kākāriki karaka (''Cyanoramphus malherbi)'' *

Kākā The New Zealand kākā (''Nestor meridionalis'') is a large species of parrot of the family Nestoridae found in New Zealand, New Zealand's native forests. The species is often known by the abbreviated name kākā, although it shares this name wi ...

(''Nestor meridionalis)'' * Yellowhead / mōhua (''Mohoua ochrocephala'') In 2022 the threatened giant snail '' Powelliphanta hochstetteri consobrina'' was re-introduced into the sanctuary. Brook Waimārama MRD 05

In the stream are freshwater crayfish ( kōura) and

koaro The climbing galaxias or kōaro (''Galaxias brevipinnis'') is a fish of the family Galaxiidae found in Australia, New Zealand, and nearby islands. The name climbing galaxias is used in Australia, and koaro or kōaro in New Zealand. Further vernac ...

(''Galaxias brevipinnis''). Nelson green geckos (''Naultinus stellatus'') are present, and

are included in the Sanctuary reintroduction plan. Of the invertebrates,

huhu beetle The huhu beetle (''Prionoplus reticularis'') is a longhorn beetle endemic to New Zealand. It is the heaviest beetle found in New Zealand. Māori name To Māori, the larval form is known as huhu (also tunga haere, tunga rākau) with the adult ...

s and

tree wētā Tree wētā are wētā in the genus ''Hemideina'' of the family Anostostomatidae. The genus is endemic to New Zealand. There are seven species within the genus ''Hemideina'', found throughout the country except lowland Otago and Southland. Beca ...

are most noticeable, and wētā "hotels" have been installed beside the walking track.

References

External links

* *

RNZ Radio New Zealand ( mi, Te Reo Irirangi o Aotearoa), commonly known as Radio NZ or simply RNZ, is a New Zealand public-service radio broadcaster and Crown entity that was established under the Radio New Zealand Act 1995. It operates news and cu ...

''Our Changing World'' episode on the Brook Waimārama Sanctuary
24 March 2016
{{Nelson, New Zealand, state=collapsed Nature reserves in New Zealand Nelson, New Zealand Wildlife sanctuaries of New Zealand Protected areas of the Nelson Region