Waikereru Ecosanctuary

The 1769 garden was designed (by Philip Smith) to be at it's best in the second week of October as the garden design is based around the coming together of Te ao Māori and a western world view on the 8th of October 1769 with the arrival of the HMS Endeavour.
One of the things the garden celebrates is the diversity of flora in this region. This week it sure is on show.

This week the Kowhai are flowering well (not quite as well the might have due to the Kereru having a good feed on them a month or two ago), Puawhanaga (Clematis paniculata) is looking great, Scandia rosifolia is just coming into bloom, Ngutukaka flowers are looking great, and we finally have flowers on the Pimelea longifolia.

Spring is also a great time to observe the bird life, and there is plenty of it at the garden at the moment.

Today I had a Pīpīwharauroa (Shining Cuckoo) up close and personal, and interacting with Pīwakawaka, and Riroriro. Also had Korimako feeding on the kowhai nectar.

So much credit goes to Fi and Ginny for their weeding and planting efforts.

- Malcolm

Spring is here in the 1769 Garden, Puawhananga (Clematis paniculata) is flowering and looking stunning.

1769 Garden glorious in the mist Malcolm Rutherford took these shots of the 1769 Garden in the mist, looking glorious - kereru everywhere.

Some good looking mist, amazing light and 4 kereru paying a visit at the 1769 Garden this morning.

The 1769 Garden has some good looking flowers, and is looking lush with this warm damp weather.

The Waikereru Wild Lab Tiaki Taiao Programme greatly appreciates support just received from the Ministry of Education which means we can continue to offer workshops to schools for free until Dec 2025. Read about the programme is in this Gisborne Herald Weekender feature article. https://www.gisborneherald.co.nz/frontpage-featured/20220910/think-like-a-stoat/

THINK LIKE A STOAT The team behind the Waikereru Ecosanctuary are breaking new ground in environmental education, bringing new perspectives and ways of doing conservation better. Andrew McKenna puts on his walking b...

Some plants and scenes from the 1769 Garden this morning before we were rained out.
The very damp previous 6 months has been a bit too wet for some one or two of our plants, but great for growth of most of them.

It was great to provide a venue (and some seeds) for this workshop today.

We are happy to be helping out with this workshop run by the Women's Native Tree Project Trust and Waimata Catchment Restoration Project. The 1769 Garden offers a wide range of species and these are mature enough now we can start giving back.

Participants will be able to take cutting material, and seeds of some quite rare species.

Want to look after our awa that runs through turanganui a kiwa? Want to see more awa planted up in native trees? Join us for a seed collecting workshop on April 4th

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

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

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 has been in full swing with a lot of classes through in recent weks. They base themselves at the Welcome Shelter, then exploring all over the place.
Ruud Kleinpaste visited a Wild Lab Tiaki Taiao class last week and I got to spend an hour or so chatting about all sorts of things as we walked around the 1769 Garden - and tonight decided to follow his advice and see what was out and about at night in Longbush.
-Malcolm

Let the River Speak - Radio NZ article Here’s another great article (this time from Radio NZ) on the ‘Let the River Speak’ team visit and public meeting:

‘I am the river, the river is me’ - Gisborne Herald Fabulous to see our ‘Let the River Speak’ research team out on the Waimatā River with the Horouta waka ama paddlers; and to have such a great turn-out at the public meeting in Gisborne to discuss the state of the Waimatā river:

A terrific article on the Waimatā project from the Gisborne Herald.

Let the River Sing - Gisborne Herald

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.

An excellent article on the rivers project from the University of Auckland.

Article: New and ancient lens for healthy rivers

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 afforestation in Aotearoa as a ‘nature-based’ solution to climate changes, degraded waterways, collapsing ecosystems and losses of biodiversity.

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 Waikereru with the Waimatā River restoration project team, and the ‘Let the River Speak’ research team from Auckland.

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 river:

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 at Waikereru, a perfect Xmas present.

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 18C landscape artist Claude Lorraine). Artists used these to reflect and shrink a landscape, painting it from the reflection, facing away from t...

Congratulations again, Sarosh!

Welcome Shelter wins national Design Award Sarosh Mulla’s Welcome Shelter at Waikereru has won a national Design Award from the NZ Institute of Architects - congratulations!!

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 Lotteries Grants Board.

One of the things taken into consideration when Philip Smith designed the 1769 Garden was that it looked good in the second week of October. That was when Sir Joseph Banks and Daniel Solander collected plant specimens in this region in 1769. Here are some highlights of what is currently flowering.

Third Annual Harriers Run at Waikereru Fantastic to see the Harriers back at Waikereru for their third annual run to date. Terrific fun.

****UPDATE.....SOLD OUT*****

We have reached our maximum registrations for this event! Sorry if you have missed out....hopefully we are back to Level 1 when we have our next event on September 13th at Sponge Bay, and then we can all come and have fun!

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⚠️Due to Covid-19 Alert Level 2, we are limited to 100 TOTAL people at our next event. That includes our amazing volunteers and coffee/food vendors! Important info 👇

🔶All Participants -- even members -- must pre-register online. (Members, your ticket will be free.)

💯 No spectators/supporters/non-participants allowed under this Alert Level 2 restrictions. Thanks for understanding that we want our limited numbers to be the people who want to run/walk this Trail Run.

⛔️ Level 2 means NO day-of registrations. No extra people with registered participants. Our 100 includes the registered participants, our volunteers to set up and run the event, and the coffee/food vendors. Thank you for understanding!

📢 Be one of the 100 this Sunday! Register by 11:30pm Saturday night. Get in quick to secure your spot!

https://www.eventbrite.co.nz/e/gizzy-trail-run-series-longbush-eco-sanctuary-tickets-109933628442?fbclid=IwAR1s-q8MTSRawirvPCmE6HgTRMnOPadPlUm-3Ma-6O4pXimfcgOmAysDxzc

Even in the middle of winter there are interesting things going on in the 1769 Garden.
These were taken this morning between rain showers, and hopefully will brighten your day (I think we all need it today).