Zealandia

About

Zealandia (Māori: Te Māra a Tāne, lit. 'the garden of Tāne'), formerly known as the Karori Wildlife Sanctuary, is a protected natural area in Wellington, New Zealand, the first urban completely fenced ecosanctuary, where the biodiversity of 225 ha (just under a square mile) of forest is being restored. The full name is Zealandia Te Māra a Tāne, often shortened to Zealandia. The sanctuary was previously part of the water catchment area for Wellington, between Wrights Hill (bordering Karori) and the Brooklyn wind turbine on Polhill.

Most of New Zealand's ecosystems have been severely modified by the introduction of land mammals that were not present during the evolution of its ecosystems, and have had a devastating impact on both native flora and fauna. The sanctuary, surrounded by a pest-exclusion fence, is an example of an ecological island, which allows the original natural ecosystems to recover by minimising the impact of introduced flora and fauna. The sanctuary has become a significant tourist attraction in Wellington and is responsible for the greatly increased number of sightings of species such as tūī and kākā in city's suburbs. Sometimes described as the world's first mainland...

The area of Zealandia was originally covered with broadleaf forest until European settlement of the area that included large fires in 1850 and 1860 that cleared the land to be used for farming. Historically about 60% of the Wellington region was covered with this broadleaf forest. Karaka, kohekohe, ngaio and nīkau trees were common but there were also rātā, rewarewa and tawa with occasional podocarps like kahikatea and rimu.

Following the discovery of alluvial gold in the Kaiwharawhara stream in 1869, there was a small gold rush in the area. This was soon replaced by quartz mines, but poor returns and the completion of the waterworks dam in 1873 lead to the end of mining in Karori. Parts of the area continued to be farmed up until 1906 when the remaining catchment was purchased for the water works.

The upper reservoir, retained by a concrete gravity arch dam, was completed in 1908. From this point, as the whole valley was a protected water catchment area for Wellington city, the slopes were re-vegetated with introduced trees and the native forest also began regenerating. The upper dam was decommissioned as a reservoir about 1991, the lower one in 1997.

Jim Lynch promoted the idea of a wildlife sanctuary in the early 1990s. The "Natural Wellington" project identified the reservoir catchment as having special significance because it is a large self-contained habitat suitable for a wide variety of native plants and animals. In 1993 a feasibility study was carried out by the Wellington regional and city councils and after public consultation in 1994, the idea of a sanctuary was given the go-ahead. The Karori Wildlife Sanctuary Trust was formed in mid-1995 to implement the proposed 'mainland island' wildlife sanctuary. The fence surrounding Zealandia was completed in 1999.

The land was transferred from the Greater Wellington Regional Council to Wellington City Council in 2004.

Zealandia Visitor Centre was designed by architectural firm Jasmax, and opened in 2010 by the Prime Minister of the time John Key. It cost $17 million New Zealand dollars with varying opinions at the time if this should have been supported by the Wellington City Council or not. At the time John Key said, "the visitor centre is a world-class facility that will help Zealandia to rival Te Papa as a tourist attraction". The name was changed to Zealandia Te Māra a Tāne around this time.

The Karori Sanctuary Trust became a council-controlled organisation of Wellington City Council in October 2016, and is part-funded by the council.

In early August 2025, the Royal New Zealand Navy dispatched personnel to conduct a navigational survey of the Zealandia sanctuary's lake. The last survey had been done in 2018.

The management of Zealandia Te Māra a Tāne is by the Karori Sanctuary Trust. This is is a community-led organisation and holds a non-profit status through registration with New Zealand Charities Services. Previous names of this trust are The Karori Reservoir Wildlife Sanctuary Trust and Karori Sanctuary Trust. In 2026 the trustees were Rebecca Matthews, Colin Rowsell, Martha Jeffries, Paul Atkins, Margaret Hyland, Elizabeth G Harrison and Russell Spratt (Board Chair). In addiition Zealandia is a Council Controlled Organisation and it receives funds from the Wellington City Council through an annual operations grant.

- To carry out education and research into all matters pertaining to the conservation and restoration of New Zealand’s natural heritage and in particular to restore representative examples of New Zealand’s natural heritage.

- To establish and maintain a secure native wildlife sanctuary in the Karori Reservoir in the City of Wellington.

- To restore the reservoir area ecosystem as closely as practicable to its presumed pre-human state but allowing for construction of specific habitats to enhance its diversity and conservation values.

- To manage and manipulate such ecosystems as may be necessary to maintain requisite populations. Zealandia has a paid staff and in 2026 the strategic leadership team had four members, including Dr Danielle Shanahan as Chief Executive. The staff work with over 500 volunteers. Some volunteers are long serving with at least one more than 25 years. One of the income streams for Zealandia is memberships.

The most crucial aspect of the sanctuary is a pest-exclusion fence, designed to exclude 14 species of non-native land mammals ranging from deer to mice, which encircles the 8.6-kilometre (5.3 mi) perimeter of the sanctuary. Construction of the fence was completed in late 1999 and all mammalian pests within the perimeter were then eradicated over a nine-month period. This predator-proof fence is of great conservation significance, being a world first design to bar all terrestrial mammals from mouse size up. [ failed verification ]

The fence design was arrived at after trials with the various species to be excluded. Its main features are a small mesh size (to exclude animals down to the size of a mouse), a curved top-cap (to prevent animals climbing over) and an underground foot (to prevent animals burrowing underneath).

In terms of its meeting conservation goals, the sanctuary has met with considerable success due to the design of the perimeter fence. The fence and ongoing monitoring have successfully kept the sanctuary free of all but the smallest species – the house mouse. It is thought that small defects in the fence mesh (damaged during construction) allowed mice to re-enter the sanctuary. Modifications to the fence have been considered in an attempt to permanently exclude mice, but meanwhile, mouse numbers are monitored and controlled. There have been occasional breaches of the fence by weasels and rats, these occasional incursions are not unexpected (for example resulting from storm damage bringing trees down upon the fence), and are picked up by on-going monitoring with tracking tunnels.

The fence design was arrived at after trials with the various species to be excluded. Its main features are a small mesh size (to exclude animals down to the size of a mouse), a curved top-cap (to prevent animals climbing over) and an underground foot (to prevent animals burrowing underneath).

In terms of its meeting conservation goals, the sanctuary has met with considerable success due to the design of the perimeter fence. The fence and ongoing monitoring have successfully kept the sanctuary free of all but the smallest species – the house mouse. It is thought that small defects in the fence mesh (damaged during construction) allowed mice to re-enter the sanctuary. Modifications to the fence have been considered in an attempt to permanently exclude mice, but meanwhile, mouse numbers are monitored and controlled. There have been occasional breaches of the fence by weasels and rats, these occasional incursions are not unexpected (for example resulting from storm damage bringing trees down upon the fence), and are picked up by on-going monitoring with tracking tunnels.