PLEASE HELP BUY & RESTORE PATUI FOREST
$94 is all it costs to save 200 sq metres
We did it!
Thanks to the incredible support of Trust supporters we have met our target and saved Patui for ever. We will be opening Patui as a new nature reserve in due course and look forward to seeing you at the opening ceremony. If you still wish to donate you can still do so from this page and your donation will help with the restoration of this incredible forest.
We urgently need your help
Your support today will help us raise $1.7 million urgently required to purchase and restore Patui Forest – a unique area of 361 hectares of nationally important native forest and land in need of restoration near Stratford in East Taranaki. With your support, we can save Patui Forest (which is currently unprotected) and safeguard the future of its wildlife – such as critically endangered long-tailed bats, kiwi, and a wealth of other native bird life.
The magic of Patui Forest
The Patui forest remnants are located approximately 20kms east of Stratford in East Taranaki. The area has been in private ownership for a long time. It’s a special place, typical of the ancient lowland forests which were once found all over this region. Clearly, past owners of this land have appreciated the bush too as it has not been intensively farmed and about half of the property still consists of mature native forest dominated by tawa and rewarewa mixed with miro, matai, totara, maire, northern rata and hinau.
The map above shows the Patui property (outlined in yellow) and the area of forest remnants (outlined in blue). To the west, Patui borders DOC land.
Long-tailed bat by Colin O’Donnell, Department of Conservation, CC BY
You can help protect critically endangered long-tailed bats
A very exciting discovery at Patui is the presence of long-tailed bats. The habitat here is perfect for them, as they prefer to roost in large, old trees. Very few people get to see long-tailed bats – they are not much bigger than your thumb and fly very fast - but at Patui you can sometimes spot them at dusk zipping along the forest edge as they hunt for insects. Long-tailed bats are critically endangered and this makes it all the more important for us to save Patui and protect it forever.
You can help protect kiwi and other threatened birds
Patui is also home to diverse birdlife. Not only do familiar birds like tui, fantail, and morepork thrive here, but the New Zealand falcon, North Island robin, Whitehead, and dabchick have all been spotted in recent times. Even kiwi are present here. This variety of bird life underlines the importance of the remaining forest at Patui and the opportunity we have to protect it and ensure its survival into the future.
Without your help we could lose Patui Forest for ever
Despite the importance of this area for conservation there is currently no formal protection for the forest remnant and wetlands on the property; any future purchaser could certainly choose to farm the land intensively if they wished and clear some or all of the forest. The loss of large, mature roost trees would be absolutely devastating to the long-tailed bats in particular. Further declines in the extent of the forest habitat or encroachment by non-native species would almost certainly mean losing much of the wildlife that currently calls Patui home.
Help restore Patui Forest to its former glory
Patui is a perfect restoration project for the Trust and with your help we can purchase, restore and save it for ever for all New Zealanders to enjoy. About half of the site still contains mature native forest which will help seed the remaining area for restoration. With a bit of help from us, Patui will be able to heal itself, restoring the native ecosystems and enlarging the forest habitat once again so that all its wildlife can remain here and flourish for ever.
