Kepa Bush Reserve, New Zealand on:
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Kepa Bush Reserve is an ecological reserve on the
The Kepa Bush Reserve is primarily formed by the slopes of a sandstone ridge, between Kepa Road and the Pourewa Creek. The Pourewa Creek at the south of the reserve flows westwards towards the
Auckland isthmus
The Auckland isthmus, also known as the Tāmaki isthmus, is a narrow stretch of land on the North Island of New Zealand in the Auckland Region, and the location of the central suburbs of the city of Auckland, including the CBD. The isthmus ...
in New Zealand
New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...
, south of Mission Bay. It is situated near the smaller St John's Bush and is also known as the Pourewa Valley.
Geology and biodiversity
The Kepa Bush Reserve is primarily formed by the slopes of a sandstone ridge, between Kepa Road and the Pourewa Creek. The Pourewa Creek at the south of the reserve flows westwards towards the Ōrākei Basin
Ōrākei Basin is one of the volcanoes in the Auckland volcanic field in the North Island of New Zealand. It has an explosion crater around 700 m wide, with a surrounding tuff ring. The present basin is slightly larger than the original maar c ...
. The forest ecosystem of the upper ridge transitions into the mangrove ecosystem of the Pourewa Creek, something very rarely seen in the reserves of the Waitematā Harbour
Waitematā Harbour is the main access by sea to Auckland, New Zealand. For this reason it is often referred to as Auckland Harbour, despite the fact that it is one of two harbours adjoining the city. The harbour forms the northern and easter ...
catchments.
The flora in Kepa Bush is diverse and the most common plants and trees include Totara
''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 ...
, 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 ...
, Kanuka, and Manuka. Fauna is very common, with Tui, Pigeon
Columbidae () is a bird family consisting of doves and pigeons. It is the only family in the order Columbiformes. These are stout-bodied birds with short necks and short slender bills that in some species feature fleshy ceres. They primarily ...
, 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 forest
A for ...
, 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 ...
and Morepork
The morepork (''Ninox novaeseelandiae''), also called the ruru, is a small brown owl found in New Zealand, Norfolk Island and formerly Lord Howe Island. The bird has almost 20 alternative common names, including mopoke and boobook—many of t ...
being the most common. 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 ...
and Kaka
Kaka may refer to:
People Nickname or given name Sports
* Carlos Augusto dos Santos da Silva (born 1987), Brazil-born Italy international futsal player
* Kaká (born 1982), Brazilian footballer Ricardo Izecson dos Santos Leite
* Kaká (football ...
are occasional.
History
The reserve honours the memory ofTe Keepa Te Rangihiwinui
Te Keepa Te Rangihiwinui (died 15 April 1898) was a Māori military commander and noted ally of the government forces during the New Zealand Wars. First known as Te Rangihiwinui, he was later known as Te Keepa, Meiha Keepa, Major Keepa or Ma ...
, a Māori military commander and ally of the government forces during the New Zealand Wars
The New Zealand Wars took place from 1845 to 1872 between the New Zealand colonial government and allied Māori on one side and Māori and Māori-allied settlers on the other. They were previously commonly referred to as the Land Wars or the M ...
. He is also known as Te Keepa, Major Keepa or Major Kemp. During the land wars of the 1860s he fought for government forces against Te Kooti
Te Kooti Arikirangi Te Turuki (c. 1832–1893) was a Māori leader, the founder of the Ringatū religion and guerrilla fighter.
While fighting alongside government forces against the Hauhau in 1865, he was accused of spying. Exiled to the Cha ...
and Titokowaru. Besides that, Kepa Bush was used by Maori pre-colonisation as a place to find food and make weapons. It was probably a strategic location to take as it had a view out into the Orakei Basin.
The land was purchased by Bishop Selwyn
George Augustus Selwyn (5 April 1809 – 11 April 1878) was the first Anglican Bishop of New Zealand. He was Bishop of New Zealand (which included Melanesia) from 1841 to 1869. His diocese was then subdivided and Selwyn was Metropolitan (late ...
in 1844, as a part of the grounds of the St John's College. In 1962, the reserve was established after the Auckland City Council
Auckland City Council was the local government authority for Auckland City, New Zealand, from 1871 to 1 November 2010, when it and Auckland's six other city and district councils were amalgamated to form the Auckland Council. It was an elected b ...
purchased the site.
References