About us

The registered charitable organisation, Tui Nature Reserve Wildlife Trust (reg.no CC47451) was established in 2011 to oversee award-winning biodiversity restoration project Tui Nature Reserve in outer Pelorus Sound/Te Hoiere, which was owned by trustees Brian and Ellen Plaisier for 25 years.

Extensive pest management programmes for rats, mice, stoats and possums as well as a predator proof fence for pigs and deer meant the native bush was able to regenerate and native species had the chance to establish themselves naturally. Ownership of the reserve changed hands in 2020.

In 2018, the Trust built Koru Conservation Wildlife Centre in Linkwater with the support of our major sponsor New Zealand King Salmon LTD, and also financial input of the Lottery Grants Board and Rata Foundation.

The centre moved to Grovetown near Blenheim in 2021. The Trust believes public education and engagement with conservation is key to ensuring the survival of New Zealand’s many rare and endangered species and their habitats. By being more accessible to the public, it is hoped Koru Conservation Wildlife Centre can contribute more effectively to that education in a fun, and interesting way.

Koru Conservation Wildlife Centre