Welcome to The Brook Waimārama Sanctuary – an extraordinary part of New Zealand.
Just minutes from Nelson’s city centre, the Brook Waimārama Sanctuary is the South Island’s largest fully fenced eco-sanctuary—690 hectares of protected native forest alive with rare and threatened species. This is a place where you can reconnect with nature, breathe deeply, and experience the mauri (life force) of Aotearoa’s unique environment.
Home to iconic species like the kiwi, tuatara, and kākāriki, the Sanctuary offers self-guided exploration across 15km of walking tracks, as well as guided day and night tours.
Find us on Instagram
Share your photos with #brooksanctuary
huruhuruwhenua (shining spleenwort)
Asplenium oblongifolium
Glossy, tough and beautiful, huruhuruwhenua forms elegant fans of fronds whose unfurling tips inspired the familiar koru. This fern thrives from the coast to the mountains across Te Ika-a-Māui and Te Waipounamu, and on Rēkohu (Chatham Islands) and Rangitāhua (Kermadec Islands). An Aotearoa endemic, it’s a true forest all-rounder.
Quick facts
✅ Large fern with stout, above-ground stems and very glossy green pinnae
✅ Look underneath: a striking herringbone pattern of sori lines the fronds
✅ Found in lowland to subalpine habitats — keep an eye on damp banks and track edges
✅ Spot it on your next hīkoi through the Sanctuary and share your find with us.
📸 Photo by Rebecca Bowater. Taken right here at the Sanctuary
🌿 Ngahere Neighbourhood — celebrating the small species that make our forest whole.
#NgahereNeighbourhood #BrookSanctuary #huruhuruwhenua #ShiningSpleenwort #AspleniumOblongifolium #NZFerns #AotearoaNature #NelsonTasman
Oct 7
🟢🧡The kākāriki karaka (orange-fronted parakeet) may not have won Bird of the Year — but they’ve won something far more important: new friends, fresh awareness, and more people who now know their story.
These taonga are still facing tough times in the wild, and every bit of support helps. By sharing their journey, you’ve helped shine a light on one of Aotearoa’s rarest birds.
A huge mihi to everyone who got behind the campaign. Special thanks to:
📸 Sean McGrath @aptenodytes42
🎨 Steffi Künstle (our biosecurity ranger, and the creator of this wonderful artwork)
🖍️ @sarahmaylittle
🐦 @birdnerdity
The fight for the kākāriki karaka continues — and they’re lucky to have you in their corner. 💚🧡
#KākārikiKaraka #BirdOfTheYear #Conservation #BrookSanctuary
Oct 1
🌿🟠 How Close Are We to Saving the Kākāriki Karaka — and How Can You Help? 🟠🌿
Kākāriki karaka (orange-fronted parakeet) are still one of Aotearoa’s rarest birds, with only a few hundred left in the wild. But thanks to predator control, captive breeding, and translocations into safe havens like the Sanctuary, the population is slowly climbing.
✔️ Intensive predator control
✔️ Safe forest sanctuaries
✔️ Captive breeding & release programmes
✔️ Ongoing monitoring & research
Every chick counts, every patch of beech forest matters, and every supporter helps keep this taonga species alive.
💚 By voting kākāriki karaka in Bird of the Year, you’re backing a recovery story that needs all of us.
👉 Voting is open now! — With your help, we can get Aotearoa`s rarest parakeet into the Bird of the Year top 10 [link in our bio]
Photography by @aptenodytes42 Sean McGrath
#KākārikiKaraka #BirdOfTheYear #BOTY2025 #BrookSanctuary
Sep 26
🌿✨ Ngahere Neighbourhood: kopakopa (kidney fern)
Delicate yet resilient, the kopakopa (Hymenophyllum nephrophyllum) carpets damp forest floors across Aotearoa. Its fronds are thin as silk — only a few cells thick — giving them a beautiful translucent glow when the light filters through the ngahere.
In dry weather, kopakopa shrivels and curls tightly to protect itself, unfurling again when rain returns. This remarkable adaptation is reflected in its Māori name, meaning “to wrap or clasp.” It is also known as raurenga and konehu.
Kopakopa often grows in lush mats along banks, rocks, fallen trees, and even the trunks of living trees — creating miniature green landscapes within the forest.
🌧️ Next time you’re walking the Sanctuary tracks after rain, take a closer look at the forest floor — you might just spot these tiny jewels unfurling again.
#NgahereNeighbourhood #BrookSanctuary #KidneyFern #FilmyFern #SanctuaryStories
Sep 25
🟢💛 Learn the story of the kākāriki karaka (orange-fronted parakeet) through art 🎨🦜
We’re excited to share this beautiful cartoon series by local artist @sarahmaylittle — bringing to life the journey of one of Aotearoa’s rarest taonga species.
From spotting the differences between parakeet species, to where kākāriki karaka live, to the threats they face from introduced predators — these illustrations tell the story of why they became endangered, and why their survival matters.
Every image is a reminder that predator-free forests give species like kākāriki karaka the chance to thrive once more. 🌿
👉 Swipe through the carousel to explore the full story.
🗳 Don`t forget to vote for kākāriki karaka in the @forestandbird - Bird of the year competition
📸 Cartoons by @sarahmaylittle
#KākārikiKaraka #BirdOfTheYear #PredatorFreeNZ #Conservation #BrookSanctuary
Sep 17
🟠🌿✨ Voting is OPEN! ✨🌿🟠
It’s here — Bird of the Year 2025 has begun! We’re backing the kākāriki karaka (orange-fronted parakeet), one of Aotearoa’s most precious taonga species.
Once found across the motu, kākāriki karaka now survive only in small, fragile populations. They are taonga because they carry the mauri (life force) of our beech forests — feeding on seeds, flowers, and insects, and spreading the ngahere’s abundance as they move. Their survival is woven into the health of the forest itself.
Less than a few hundred remain in the wild, but thanks to translocations, captive breeding, and predator-free sanctuaries like ours, there is hope.
💚 Cast your vote for the kākāriki karaka — the rarest parakeet with the biggest fight.
💚 Share this post to spread the word.
👉 Vote: Link in our bio
👉 Search for kākāriki karaka and click “click here to vote for me”
Together, we can give this taonga a future.
Photography by Sean McGrath
#KākārikiKaraka #BirdOfTheYear #BOTY2025 #BrookSanctuary
Sep 15
