Conservation park Tui Nature Reserve
Mrs.
Ellen
Plaisier
Co-Director
Tui Nature Reserve
Organization Type
Annual Budget/Currency
Private Bag 65023 - Havelock 7150 - Marlborough
Telephone Number
Alternative email address
Private Bag 65023
Havelock 7150
Marlborough
Tourism-related business
1995
Paste your code here
We like to bring natural awareness to everyone, young and old, in a fun, informative and beautiful way.
Conservation park Tui Nature Reserve is a 42 hectare native bush in the Marlborough Sounds of New Zealand. It is run by the dedicated Plaisier family for the past fourteen years. Pest programmes are in place to protect the forest from invasive preditors like stoats, possums, rats and pigs. Three enclosures are build to breed local species of lizards and the Kakariki bird. Our future goal is to build a predator free fence to protect the whole 180 hectare peninsula where Tui Nature Reserve is located on. After it is declared pest free we can start a release programme in conjuction with the local Department of Conservation. Accommodation is available so visitors can come and visit and stay as long as they like. Our aim is to have small groups of people, young and old, and let them connect with nature in a fun, educational and beautiful way. Our aim is to have the property self sufficient in power, water and a with a good vegetable garden, we use plantbased cleaning products to be gentle on the environment.
The land has a total area of 42 hectare and is located on a 180 hectare peninsula. A large part of our land, 38 hectares, we have put under a covenant from the Queen Elizabeth Trust that will protect it for generations to come. This means that on the protected land it is not possible to have trees chopped down or cultivate it in any other way. There are other projects in New Zealand like this but it is quite rare that it is privately owned with the level of dedication we have put into it for the past fourteen years and up till now it is almost solely funded from our own money and income generated from the visitors.
Our degree of success is measured by the visitors that visit us. Their emotional and positive reactions keep us going. The forest makes a come back, with flowers and fruits growing where there weren't any before, bird numbers are up but also the insect life is improving. We have regular visits from the Department of Conservation and the Queen Elizabeth Trust members, that mention we make great progress and even have written testimony letters. We are also proud to say that recently we won the Marlborough Environmental Award for Habitat Enhancement and the overall Supreme Award.
Tui Nature Reserve is very isolated with only access by boat, there are only few local residents most of them own farms but the locals that visited us responded very positive to our initiative after they've seen what we were doing. There is more environmental awareness in general, right through the area, not just because of our work but mainly because of the decline in fish and bird numbers.
The end of May, we are organizing an Open Field Day where locals are invited.
Our biggest difference with other eco-destinations is that this is a family run business, where we only have a small number of visitors so that there is lots of time for everyone that comes and visit us. We organize tours through the bush where we tell stories of how we started and all the funny things that happened along the way. It is our own enthusiasm that people like the most. Our two oldest children (12 and 14 year) will also tour people in the enclosures where there is a breeding programme for a native parakeet and native Gecko's.
All visitors will be offered a conservation walk through the forest. Brian will explain the efforts we made so far and will point out the results of the pest control. Furthermore we also offer a sponsor programme where people can adopt one hectare of native bush. This will help us to cover some of the cost to look after it and will conserve the important eco-system.
Up to now, we mainly paid for the project out of our own pocket by way of mortgage however lately we have been able to get funding for an upgrade in predator control from both the government and the local council this counts for 30% of the needed overal funding. Tourism and Eco tours provides about 25% and we have set up a business partnership programme and a private sponsorship taking care of 45% of the yearly funding.
Yes, our conservation programme is financially sustainable however it will require continious looking for funding and businesses that will sponsor the project in return for a positive 'green' image. .
This project is mainly run by the family, which means there is always a lot of work and it is hard to take a break, we do work with volunteers that can help with the physical jobs.
Also as our land is very isolated it is harder to get the number of guest we would like as there is quite a bit of travel time involved.
We have build three large enclosures to breed native reptiles and Kakariki birds. At the moment we are building our knowledge with captive species, but once we are experienced enough the Department of Conservation will supply us with wild lizard and bird species from local areas that can be bred for release either here, once the land is predator free, or in other predator free areas.
It is our goal to have the peninsula we are on either predator free or if that is not possible, with very low numbers of predators.
We left Holland in 1992 in search for a beautiful, clean, natural place to live. When we finally found that place three years later we noticed that this beautiful place was also under threat. Not from pollution but from pest invaders such as possums, stoats, pigs and rats. Straight away a new plan was formed to do whatever we could, to protect the environment and the first trap programme appeared. And contact was made with the Queen Elizabeth Trust to place the land under a covenant. To create a form of income we decided to share this beautiful place with people that would like to visit and have build accommodation for them to stay.
Brian is a trained electrician and Ellen has done mainly office jobs, together we have been self employed for a total of six years before we arrived in the Sounds.
We arrived as dutch immigrants in the Marlborough Sounds about 15 years ago. After a rough start adjusting to the new way of living from the suburbs to a 42 hectare block of bush that had no buildings on it, not even water or a power supply.
Adaption slowly followed, buildings started to rise and water was coming out of the taps. Three children were born and totally love the 'new' way of living.
We offer an natural environment, a long way from town, with no neighbours or shops in the area and boat access only. The location of the accommodation is 180 meter above sealevel on top of a plateau forested hill. This project runs mainly on the energy of the family and ocassional volunteers. Visitors appriciate the hard work that has gone into this project to create the buildings and to set up a conservation programme to secure the environment for future generations.
For private projects like Conservation park Tui Nature Reserve it would be crucial to work together with businesses that like to be involved with green projects in return for financial support. In our next stage we would like to place a pest free fence on the peninsula we are located. This would be an opportunity for a business to realy make an impact and get a positive 'green' profile. We already have a good relation with the Department of Conservation.