Ruud Kleinpaste: Wellington's Polhill Reserve

Communities looking after endangered species
Today I am in Wellington and to be more precise: in the Aro Valley. And to be even more precise: on the reserve right next to my favourite brewery, Garage Project.This is simply a huge celebration, and it’s all about the Polhill reserve. Right above us on the hill, and the Polhill Protectors who are looking after this 70 hectares of scruffy regenerating gullies bordered by the suburbs of Brooklyn, Highbury and Aro Valley. Something extraordinary is happening here!
For the first time in a century rare birds like kākā and tīeke/saddleback are living together with people in Wellington. The return of Aotearoa’s avian originals into this sweet slice of the Town Belt is courtesy of spillover from the Zealandia Ecosanctuary.The manu taonga are not in a zoo or exiled on an island, but in the wild in urban Wellington's backyard, five minutes from downtown. Polhill is one of Wellington City Council’s most popular reserves with thousands of mountain bikers, runners, ramblers, students, families, commuters, twitchers, dog-walkers and day-trippers using it every week. 
Polhill's protectors are the users of the reserve who are laying out the welcome mat for the spillover birds: by trapping pests and engaging in bush restoration efforts. Our kaupapa is to be neighbourly with our natives.
This has become a really cool place; not just birds either! A few months ago I photographed a peripatus in a rotting log.
But for the Polhill protectors this November it has been 5 years since the very first tīeke/saddleback was discovered breeding in the reserve, so we're going to have a party to celebrate all the community efforts that have gone into looking after Aro Valley's wild backyard. It'll be on the Garage Project forecourt, bands, stalls, kids activities etc and I'm sure will attract a decent turnout; it’s on from 1 to 5 pm.
Oh, and according to my mate Paul Stanley-Ward, next step: Capital Kiwi! Imagine having kiwi back in Wellington; they’ve already deployed 2000 stoat traps and caught more than 100 stoats; target: 23,000 hectares under control with 4,400 traps by the end of the year.
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