Big Birthday Bash for Forest & Bird at Whanganui’s Bushy Park Tarapuruhi

Bushy Park volunteers get ready to celebrate Forest & Bird's 100th birthday. (From left): Roger Souden, Tasman Winchcombe, David Wright, Lincoln Paul, Brian Dunne, Nuala Dunne, Peter McDowell and manager Mandy Brooke. Photo / Bevan Conley

Kai Iwi benefactor Frank Moore would no doubt be pleased to know that the 100th birthday of Forest & Bird is to be celebrated at his former Whanganui home.

The forested land and homestead, known as Bushy Park Tarapuruhi, bequeathed to Forest & Bird in 1962 will be one of three New Zealand venues for Forest & Bird’s Big Birthday Bash (BBB) this weekend.

Bushy Park Tarapuruhi Trust manager Mandy Brooke and volunteers were busily preparing for the BBB, which will begin at 10am on Saturday and is free to attend.

“There will be plenty of opportunities for visitors to wander around and enjoy the day,” Brooke said.

“Most of the activities will be based near the visitor centre, on the lawn behind the homestead or in the plant nursery.”

Visitors are requested to park just inside the main gates and walk along the rodent fence to the homestead, where they will be offered options to take tours of the forest and homestead, join in activities or just wander around until 3pm.

Brooke said Bushy Park’s education team had trained a group of young tour guides from Westmere, Brunswick and St John’s Hill primary schools to lead groups on forest tours.

“They have become very knowledgeable and will be able to answer any questions about the bird and plant life.

“People should bring their cameras, because there will be photography lessons on the homestead lawn and there will be a prize for the best photo of the day.”

Visitors will also have opportunities to learn how to pot native plants for the vegetation project and homestead manager Dale Pullen will provide guided tours through the historic five-bedroom house, which functions as a homestay and function venue.

Child-friendly forest activities will be on offer alongside stalls offering tips for predator trapping at home and biodiversity information. The local branch of Forest & Bird will have a stall. There will also be workshops on creating and keeping nature journals.

“There will be a cake-cutting ceremony at 11am, and there will be coffee and icecream trucks on site,” Brooke said.

Bushy Park Tarapuruhi is one of three conservation sites holding birthday celebrations for Forest & Bird. Photo / Bevan Conley

Forest & Bird has retained title to the forest, and the Bushy Park Trust took ownership of Bushy Park Homestead and the area around it in 1995.

Tarapuruhi was known to local Māori as a place of abundant bird life, and the trust works in partnership with Ngā Rauru Kītahi iwi and the hapū of the district.

The million-dollar predator-proof fence that has enclosed the sanctuary since 2005 was funded by local individuals, businesses and trusts, and was largely driven by the late conservationist and farmer Allan Anderson.

Bushy Park board member and educator Keith Beautrais said it was wonderful to celebrate 100 years of Forest & Bird at the sanctuary.

“The people who formed the society in 1923 were concerned about the loss of native bird habitats and saw that forests needed to be preserved in order to save bird species from extinction,” he said.

“The largely voluntary work done at Bushy Park and the birdsong you hear there demonstrates that the balance can be restored within a generation.”

Another celebration will be held at Forest & Bird’s Lenz Reserve in the Catlins on Saturday, and a third will take place at Pelorus Bridge Scenic Reserve in Te Tauihu-o-te-waka Marlborough on Sunday.

Forest & Bird chief executive Nicola Toki will attend the Marlborough celebration, and she encouraged everyone to attend their local events.

“I’d like to invite everyone to come along to experience these special places, enjoy being outside in te taiao nature and meet some of the people helping to look after these landscapes and the unique species that call them home.”

Forest & Bird is Aotearoa New Zealand’s leading independent conservation organisation, with more than 100,000 members, supporters and volunteers.