8 | T TKim Bowden Park marks 40 years of conservation Kiwi Park is now part of wider breed-and-release programmes through the Zoo and Aquarium Association and the Department of Conservation. “We’ve been here for 40 years. We’ve planted over 50,000 trees here. It’s a pretty special little oasis.” Kiwi Park REGIONAL Richard Wilson’s grandfather was a Queenstown mechanic who didn’t have an answer when a customer asked where they could see a kiwi – but the question gave him an idea. In 1984, he secured eight acres of wasteland below the Skyline Gondola and set about turning it into what would become Kiwi Park. Four decades and three generations later, the family business is celebrating its 40th anniversary, with more than 50,000 trees established across the site and a conservation programme that reaches well beyond its famous kiwi. Getting the park off the ground was no small job. Richard says the site was Queenstown’s unofficial rubbish dump, with his grandparents, father and aunty pitching in to clear “all the car bodies and blackberry and broom”. It was Richard’s grandfather that found the natural spring at the heart of the property – water welling up from beneath Ben Lomond – and diverted it through the park, building aviaries over the top so the birds would have spring-fed water year-round. Planting came next. Richard’s grandmother put in 15,000 trees in those early years, and the family has continued planting ever since. The park opened in 1986. Richard’s parents ran it for close to 30 years before he took over as general manager as the business emerged from the Covid‑19 pandemic. While kiwi remain the star attraction, Kiwi Park is now part of wider breed-and-release programmes through the Zoo and Aquarium Association and the Department of Conservation. Whio, yellow-crowned kākāriki and pāteke are among the other taonga species nurtured at the park. Richard says the next step is to “bolster our local ecosystem with our birds”, bringing more of the park’s release work back to the South Island and working with partner organisations such as Southern Lakes Sanctuary, which is working on takahē rehoming in the Rees Valley. For a bit of fun to celebrate the 40th milestone, the park is also building a ‘Kiwi car’, a quirky custom vehicle in the spirit of the old Red Bull promotional cars. The car is being built by Wellington company, Human Dynamo, and is due back in Queenstown for summer. “It will be an absolute neck snapper,” Richard says. “Everyone will notice it. You will not be able to drive past it without recognising it.” International visitors account for the majority of Kiwi Park’s business, but Richard says, “We definitely look after our locals”, with the park regularly hosting school groups and locals’ days. It recently ran a fundraising day for local child, Dylan, and his family, who are going through a difficult time with cancer. The business has also recently been accredited with Qualmark Gold status, which Richard says showcases “how well the team’s doing and how well the business is doing with all the back-end stuff as well”. A major redevelopment of the park’s guest services building is underway, aimed at smoother ticketing, less queuing and crowding, and an improved visitor experience. For Richard, though, the biggest achievement remains what his family has created on those eight acres which were once written off as a dump. With Queenstown continuing to face pressure for land, he is adamant Kiwi Park is there for the long term. “We’ve been here for 40 years. We’ve planted over 50,000 trees here. It’s a pretty special little oasis,” he says. “You watch this place over the next 40 years, with lots of birds that we’ll be able to breed.”
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