Bushy Park is a forest located on the west coast of the

North Island The North Island, also officially named Te Ika-a-Māui, is one of the two main islands of New Zealand, separated from the larger but much less populous South Island by the Cook Strait. The island's area is , making it the world's 14th-larges ...

of New Zealand, at 791 Rangitatau East Road, from Kai Iwi,

Whanganui Whanganui (; ), also spelled Wanganui, is a city in the Manawatū-Whanganui region of New Zealand. The city is located on the west coast of the North Island at the mouth of the Whanganui River, New Zealand's longest navigable waterway. Whang ...

Manawatū-Whanganui Manawatū-Whanganui (; spelled Manawatu-Wanganui prior to 2019) is a region in the lower half of the North Island of New Zealand, whose main population centres are the cities of Palmerston North and Whanganui. It is administered by the Manawa ...

region. It features an Edwardian-era homestead, Bushy Park Homestead, which is a Category I heritage building registered with

Heritage New Zealand Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga (initially the National Historic Places Trust and then, from 1963 to 2014, the New Zealand Historic Places Trust) ( mi, Pouhere Taonga) is a Crown entity with a membership of around 20,000 people that advocate ...

, a predator-free native

bird sanctuary An animal sanctuary is a facility where animals are brought to live and to be protected for the rest of their lives. Pattrice Jones, co-founder of VINE Sanctuary defines an animal sanctuary as "a safe-enough place or relationship within the cont ...

, and a virgin

rainforest Rainforests are characterized by a closed and continuous tree canopy, moisture-dependent vegetation, the presence of epiphytes and lianas and the absence of wildfire. Rainforest can be classified as tropical rainforest or temperate rainfores ...

. It measures approximately , and is characterized as a "lowland remnant of rata-podocarp taka- puketea icrainforest". According to Forest & Bird, Bushy Park is considered to be amongst the 25 best

restoration ecology Restoration ecology is the scientific study supporting the practice of ecological restoration, which is the practice of renewing and restoring degraded, damaged, or destroyed ecosystems and habitats in the environment by active human interrupt ...

projects in Australia and New Zealand.

History

The 22-room Edwardian homestead, designed by Charles Tilleard Natusch, includes a long, -wide hall that runs the length of the residence, as well as wood panelling, carved mantels, and

art deco Art Deco, short for the French ''Arts Décoratifs'', and sometimes just called Deco, is a style of visual arts, architecture, and product design, that first appeared in France in the 1910s (just before World War I), and flourished in the Unit ...

lights. Built by Russell and Bignell in 1906 at a cost of £4,566 for G. Frank Moore, a cattle and racehorse breeder, the residence and park were given to the

Royal Forest and Bird Protection Society of New Zealand Forest & Bird ( mi, Te Reo o te Taiao), also known by its formal name as the Royal Forest and Bird Protection Society of New Zealand, is an environmental organisation specialising in the protection and conservation of New Zealand's indigenous ...

by Moore in 1962. The homestead, bird sanctuary, and rain forest have been managed by Bushy Park Homestead and Forest Trust since 1994. The Bushy Park Festival, an annual event on the Sunday of Wellington Anniversary weekend, is the major fundraising event for the trust. During the period of 2004 to 2005, a

pest-exclusion fence 280px, Xcluder pest-exclusion fence around perimeter of Maungatautari A pest-exclusion fence is a barrier that is built to exclude certain types of animal pests from an enclosure. This may be to protect plants in horticulture, preserve gras ...

was built around the park and two aerial drops of rodent bait occurred later in 2005. The opening of Bushy Park’s kiwi creche, also in 2005, was marked by the arrival of a female kiwi chick from the Waimarino Forest.

Flora and fauna

A network of ten forest paths traverse the forest reserve that includes mahoe, mamaku,

pukatea ''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) f ...

, rātā, 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 ...

along with colonies of

fern A fern (Polypodiopsida or Polypodiophyta ) is a member of a group of vascular plants (plants with xylem and phloem) that reproduce via spores and have neither seeds nor flowers. The polypodiophytes include all living pteridophytes exce ...

s and

moss Mosses are small, non-vascular flowerless plants in the taxonomic division Bryophyta (, ) '' sensu stricto''. Bryophyta ('' sensu lato'', Schimp. 1879) may also refer to the parent group bryophytes, which comprise liverworts, mosses, and ...

es. A feature of the reserve is a large northern rātā

Metrosideros robusta ''Metrosideros robusta'', the northern rātā, is a forest tree endemic to New Zealand. It grows up to or taller, and usually begins its life as a hemiepiphyte high in the branches of a mature forest tree; over centuries the young tree sends d ...

named ''Ratanui'' ("Big Rata"). It is estimated to be between 500 and 1000 years old. It is in height while its girth exceeds , and has been severely damaged by

possums Possum may refer to: Animals * Phalangeriformes, or possums, any of a number of arboreal marsupial species native to Australia, New Guinea, and Sulawesi ** Common brushtail possum (''Trichosurus vulpecula''), a common possum in Australian urban ...

. Avifauna species include

korimako The New Zealand bellbird (''Anthornis melanura''), also known by its Māori names korimako, makomako, and kōmako, is a passerine bird endemic to New Zealand. It has greenish colouration and is the only living member of the genus ''Anthornis''. T ...

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 ...

, toutouwai, tīeke, and

tūī The tūī (''Prosthemadera novaeseelandiae'') is a boisterous medium-sized bird native to New Zealand. It is blue, green, and bronze colored with a distinctive white throat tuft. It is an endemic passerine bird of New Zealand, and the only spe ...

, as well as the kārearea, pīwakawaka, riroriro,

mallard The mallard () or wild duck (''Anas platyrhynchos'') is a dabbling duck that breeds throughout the temperate and subtropical Americas, Eurasia, and North Africa, and has been introduced to New Zealand, Australia, Peru, Brazil, Uruguay, Argen ...

pūkeko The Australasian swamphen (''Porphyrio melanotus'') is a species of swamphen (''Porphyrio'') occurring in eastern Indonesia (the Moluccas, Aru and Kai Islands), Papua New Guinea, Australia and New Zealand. In New Zealand, it is known as the ...

tauhou 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 matuku moana. In May 2022, a flock of 52 whiteheads (pōpokotea) were translocated from Waitahinga Reserve to Bushy Park.

Giraffe weevil The giraffe weevil (''Trachelophorus giraffa'') is a weevil found in Southern Africa, India, south-east Asia. Description and ecology It derives its name from an extended neck, much like that of a giraffe. The giraffe weevil is sexually dimor ...

s, glowworms, and huhu beetles also inhabit Bushy Park.

References

{{Reflist Forests of New Zealand Wildlife sanctuaries of New Zealand Nature reserves in New Zealand Rainforests Bird sanctuaries Whanganui District Protected areas of Manawatū-Whanganui Forest reserves