In July 1995 Prime Minister the Rt. Hon James Bolger officially launched the Karori Sanctuary Trust. Established as a non-profit charitable trust that allows the community to participate in the development of the Karori sanctuary, the Trust and its members are responsible for the direction of the entire project.

In the same year an interim lease was signed which gave the Trust responsibility for managing the Karori Reservoir while funds were raised and planning completed.

Read Jim Lynch’s story of how the Trust was established

Public approval

Consultations showed that 90% of the local community supported the use of the valley as a sanctuary. In 1997 a draft management plan was released for public submission. The Wellington City Council approved the final plan in January 1998. In February 1998 the Trust received resource consent to proceed with the development of the sanctuary and in 1999 signed a 30-year renewable lease with the Wellington City Council.

Raising the funds

In 1998 the Trust brought together a portfolio of community funders who committed $2.5 million for the construction of the predator proof fence. Construction of the 8.6km fence started in December 1998. It still costs over $2 million a year to manage the sanctuary.

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Becoming pest free

The predator fence was completed in August 1999. With the sanctuary site secure an intensive nine-month multi-species eradication campaign was implemented. By June 2000 the sanctuary was declared free of all mammalian predators except mice.

More information on the Trust’s conservation and ecological restoration work