Welcome to the Park of the Week Newsletter for February 15, 2024. This week’s park is the world’s first fully-fenced urban ecosanctuary.
Zealandia
Location
Wellington, New Zealand
Claim to fame
Zealandia–previously called the Karori Wildlife Sanctuary–is a fully-fenced ecosanctuary in the heart of Wellington city. The park is 500 acres (225 hectares) and was once a water catchment area for the city. It’s location, lack of urban development, and topology made it an ideal location for an experiment that just might save several rare New Zealand wildlife and plant species.
Zealandia was conceived in the early 1990s as a space where non-native pests could be removed and native species returned and protected. The park is enclosed by a fence 2.2 meters high, with a curved top hat, wire mesh wall, and underground skirt to prevent the return of pests.
The fence is vital to keeping the park pest-free, and, with constant maintenance and monitoring, has been wildly successful. 18 native species have been reintroduced. 24 endemic birds, dozens of reptiles, and hundreds of plants–many of which are extremely endangered and exist almost nowhere else in New Zealand–now reside in the park.
Reason to visit
Zealandia has 20 miles (32 km) of walking trails that wind visitors through wildlife habitat. The sheer volume of native species in an enclosed space means that they are common sightings; even the most endangered of species, like the Takahē, a colorful swamphen (there are only 500 of them left) roams its habitat in full view of the main trail.
The species the park protects are thriving and so is visitation. Rare wildlife and beautiful scenery have made Zealandia one of the most popular tourist attractions in Wellington. The park has experts who conduct tours and educational programming. Overseen by a non-profit community trust, all proceeds earned by tourism go back into the park’s plan for protecting this urban space for the next 500 years.
Wild Fact
Named for the ancient continent of Zealandia, of which New Zealand is a much smaller remnant, the park Zealandia is an attempt to step back in time. The park’s goal is to return this small urban space as much as possible to the state it was in prior to human settlement.
Zealandia the continent was unique among major landmasses on earth for its lengthy isolation and near-complete lack of mammal species. Millions of years of evolution turned New Zealand into a biological wonder–with countless plant and animal species found no where else.
Once a nearly mammal-free landmass, human development of New Zealand and surrounding islands introduced many mammalian pests that have steadily destroyed native flora and fauna. Numerous endemic species have gone extinct, including at least 51 birds. Today over 100 endemic New Zealand plant species are listed as endangered or critical.
Zealandia has successfully protected and even grown populations of some native species, and other parks within New Zealand are now using its model of fencing and pest removal to save the nation’s unique biological inheritance.
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