Image credit: Imogen Warren Photography.
Our story
In November 2016 the Matuku Reserve Trust was able to buy 37 hectares of bush and wetland, naming it “Matuku Link”, after an intensive fundraising campaign. Buying it ensured the safety of the wildlife and forms a vital connection by linking neighbouring eco-restoration projects Ark in the Park; Habitat te Henga and the Forest & Bird reserve Matuku. Over 90% of New Zealand’s wetlands have been drained or filled, yet on Auckland’s doorstep is Te Henga wetland, the largest wetland in the region.
Matuku Link, at the head of the Te Henga wetland, consists of river flats at the foot of a large native forest block in Auckland’s Waitakere River valley. It is a home to rare wetland species such as our namesake matuku (Australasian bittern), puweto (spotless crake), pateke (brown teal), freshwater fish species and native bats foraging along the river forest edge. The kauri and broadleaf forest is home to many bush birds like kereru, fantail, tui, ruru, and tomtits.
Regular volunteer days have resulted in many thousands of trees, sedges, & reeds being planted to restore the alluvial flats to a range of wetland habitats. These plants are eco-sourced and grown in our own nursery tended by volunteers.
Ponds have been created with interconnecting boardwalks and trails made accessible for people of all abilities while the old barn has been transformed into a sustainable Wetland Education Centre and volunteer meeting place. More info about us here.
Hands-on volunteering
Our regular working bees are every Third Sunday of the month and every Tuesday morning. Depending on the weather, tasks will be around weeding, planting, growing plants in the nursery, doing predator control or building work. More info here.
Please contact Annalily on matukulink@gmail.com with questions, or if you’d like to join us and it’s your first time out to Matuku Link. We’d love to welcome you here!
Helping out in other ways
Nothing is possible without our valued funders, donors and supporters. Matuku Reserve Trust is a charitable trust so any donation over $5 is tax deductible. Please consider becoming a supporter, more info here.
Thank you to our many generous sponsors and individuals who have helped us with in-kind or financial contributions!
Why test wai?
Kimberley D'Souza from our friends at Whitebait Connection, who also have helped us installing the fish ladder, came for our first training session on water quality testing. Over the next couple of years we aim to do the testing every second month, at our Working Bee,...
Kiwi Conservation Club visit
We love to see groups returning to Matuku Link: they can admire the health of the trees they planted, check out the other things we've done and become part of our growing (excuse the pun) project. One of those groups is the Kiwi Conservation Club, Forest & Bird's...
Kauri and kereru
As written by Linda Ruthe: When Liz March (local photographer), needed to take photos of Kauri, she kindly invited me to go with her to Matuku Link. There, we dutifully disinfected our shoes and walked up a track to where Kauri grow amongst companions. I spent some...
Contact us:
Secretary Annalily van den Broeke
021-2207136 or email us at matukulink@gmail.com..
Physical address:
111 Bethells Road, Te Henga, Auckland
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