Ark in the Park
Waitākere Ranges, Tāmaki Makaurau
Ark in the Parkis a landscape-scale restoration project managed in partnership by Forest & Bird and Auckland Council, supported by local mana whenua Te Kawerau ā Maki.
Thriving in the Ark. Artist Cathy Hansby
A Living Ark
Writer: Lee Ryan
Forging a sanctuary with their long limbs
the molten veins of tōtara and kauri draw in
nature’s fire from earth to sky,
catching light and water for a gasping city.
Their leaves flicker green.
Yet this forest of Tiriwa endures a human strain.
Our kauri queen, witness to forty generations
now skeletal, ash-white, still.
While in the darkness,
ravenous stoats and rats
devour fledgling heartbeats.
See now volunteers who hike with bait.
A steady glow,
meeting ancestors in trunk and leaf.
Smell wet ferns, moss, fresh earth.
Listen—tūī, kererū, kōkako—
Like their forest kin, they are forging a sanctuary.
Writer: Lee Ryan
My journey tracks the ridge line from Hillsborough to Titirangi on my way to Ark in the Park in the Waitākere Ranges. Two decades ago, a Forest & Bird branch envisioned, persuaded, sourced funds, and established a sanctuary. It is now 2200ha. It has no fences. Volunteers maintain an active shield against introduced stoats, weasels, rats,and possums through a grid of bait lines and traps.
I turn left into Falls Road. The scars drawn by the cyclone and the storms are visible on the landscape–slips, landslides, fallen trees. The rāhui remains. Aunt Agatha, an ancient kauri and tūpuna of Te Kawerau ā Maki, has succumbed to kauri dieback disease. Her ash-white limbs linger, stark against the dark green bush, marking her demise after centuries of standing watch.
On this Saturday morning, a steady stream of people arrive. They have a quiet intensity. They prepare by carefully packing bait, a hammer, a saw, a small backpack, and the focus they need for tackling the ever-changing, potentially wet and slippery terrain of their bait line.
On the trip home, I think about how this group of people is a model for what we need in our future. It’s the small and ongoing acts of restoration. What we can each bring to the forest and what we can achieve by working together. We are all rewarded by the sounds of toutouwai and kōkako.
Tiakina te wao nui a Tiriwa hei oranga mōu–treasure the vast domain of Tiriwa and, in turn, you shall benefit.
Thriving in the Ark
Artist: Cathy Hansby
Artist: Cathy Hansby
My artwork shows the Ark from the highest point, Pukematekeo, looking out to the west coast and Te Henga Bethells Beach. With tūī and kererū flying overhead, the returned kōkako and native wildlife emerge from the forest, resting on the bare branches of the ancient kauri tree, who has succumbed to kauri dieback disease. Below, the regenerating forest comes alive amongst the lush leaves of the undergrowth. The incredible army of volunteers regularly trap or bait every 50m of this vast 2200ha reserve, allowing native wildlife to recover and thrive.
Medium: Digital freehand drawing.