Omoana Bush Reserve Extended
March 24, 2016
What a great month it has been! With the opening of our new Purple Peak Curry Reserve at the end of February and, just in time for Easter, settlement is now complete on a property that will extend our Omoana Bush Reserve by a further 226ha, taking it to 560ha!
Omoana Bush, and this area as a whole, has been identified by Taranaki Regional Council as a Key Native Ecosystem (KNE) due to its high indigenous biodiversity values. This means that the ‘Omoana Bush’ KNE contains regionally significant ecosystems and species such as the ‘Threatened’ New Zealand falcon and North Island brown kiwi. It also contains ‘At Risk’ fern bird, North Island pipit and the ‘Regionally Distinctive’ Tawhirikaro (Pittosporum cornifolium).
This purchase wouldn’t have been possible without the ongoing support and generosity of our supporters. A special thank you goes out to local beekeeper Mike Everly and his company Forest and Trees Native Honey, for bringing the property to our attention and exploring partnership options. Mike’s involvement provided the catalyst and much needed financial support for the purchase to proceed.
As with all our reserves we have already taken steps to retire the land from farming. The reserve will be actively encouraged to naturally regenerate into a native forest reserve, protected by a QEII Open Space covenant.
Omoana Bush is located 35km east of Eltham, towards the Matemateonga Ranges; a head catchment of the Patea River. More information on Omoana Bush can be found here.
