Otari-Wilton's Bush
| Otari Native Botanic Garden and Wilton's Bush Forest Reserve | |
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| Type | Native plant botanical garden |
| Location | Wellington, New Zealand Coordinates: 41°16′02″S 174°45′31″E / 41.267332°S 174.758626°E |
| Area | 259.46 acres (105.00 ha) |
| Operated by | Wellington City Council |
Otari Native Botanic Garden and Wilton's Bush Reserve (Otari-Wilton's Bush) is the only public botanic garden in New Zealand dedicated solely to New Zealand native plants. It is located in Wellington's suburb of Wilton.
Otari Native Botanic Garden and Wilton's Bush Reserve (Otari-Wilton's Bush) is the only public botanic garden in New Zealand dedicated solely to New Zealand native plants.
This unique plant sanctuary and forest reserve consists of 100 hectares of native forest, and five hectares of plant collections. Some of Wellington's oldest trees are here, including an 800-year-old rimu.
Otari–Wilton's Bush is classified as a Garden of National Significance by the New Zealand Gardens Trust. It is also one of the Founding Gardens of the Trust.
Otari-Wilton's Bush is owned and managed by Wellington City Council.
Entry is free, and is open daily between sunrise and sunset. The Te Marae o Tane Information Centre is open 8.00am - 4.00pm daily.
Located only 5 km from the city centre, at 160 Wilton Road (between Gloucester and Warwick streets). You can either drive from the city and park at the main public car park is at the Wilton Road entrance, or take the No 14 Wilton bus from Lambton Quay to Otari-Wilton's Bush. Public parking is also available off Churchill Drive.
Wheelchair-friendly paths run from the main carpark to the Information Centre, over the Canopy Walkway, and to Cockayne Lookout. A step-free path runs from the Churchill Drive carpark along the Kaiwharawhara streamside to the Troup Picnic Lawn.
Otari-Wilton's Bush was originally covered with podocarp broadleaf forest. The name “Otari” is Māori for “Place of Snares”. The forest was a good place for bird hunting. When the region was colonized by Europeans, trees were removed for timber, and to create farmland.
The first part of the reserve to be protected was a 7 hectare area of forest that was fenced off from stock by a far-sighted local farmer, Job Wilton, in 1860. Many parts of the current Otari-Wilton's Bush reserve have been designated as reserve by the New Zealand government and Wellington City Council. This includes most of the remnants of the mature podocarpaceae forest that once cloaked all of Wellington and the surrounding hills.
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