Wellington City Council approves a $1.9m interest-free loan and an additional $900k funding to cover extra costs and unexpected delays to our new world-class visitor experience. More...
Tickets for our popular pre-Christmas Wine & Wander with Regional Wines are on sale now! More...
The Fence is an occasional comic strip devised by 14 year-old Wellington-based art student Ryan Jones. More...
Sanctuary confirms first tuatara nest on mainland New Zealand in hundreds of years. More...
NEW! Free ranger talks every Sunday and Public Holiday this summer. More...
Once again this Christmas we're raising funds by selling specially-branded Sanctuary wine. More...
The Fence is a new comic strip devised by 14 year-old Wellington-based art student Ryan Jones. Click on the image to see full-sized version.
Spring has arrived early in Wellington. But whilst most native bird species at the city’s world-renowned Karori Sanctuary are busy building their nests, a gang of teenage kaka have other ideas…More
A seasonal look at the Sanctuary through the eyes of a volunteer More...
If you're a regular visitor to our website you will notice its fresh new look. What do you think? More...
We've added another prestigious accolade to our collection, winning the 2008 TIANZ Conservation in Action Award. More...
Work is now well underway on our new world-class Visitor and Education Centre. More...
Hihi happenings, autumn flowers and fruits, the beetle that makes citrus growers sour ... and much more...
Karori Sanctuary - 2008 TIANZ Conservation in Action award winner
We've added another prestigious accolade to our collection, winning the 2008 TIANZ Conservation in Action Award.
Nancy McIntosh-Ward, Chief Executive, Karori Sanctuary
receives Conservation in Action award from Al Morrison,
Director-General, Department of Conservation
at TIANZ Tourism Awards 2008.
The national award, which is sponsored by Department of Conservation, recognises the achievement of organisations that have invested considerable effort and resources into conservation-related initiatives. The Sanctuary was a finalist last year.
The award was accepted on behalf of the Sanctuary by its Chief Executive Nancy McIntosh-Ward.
‘The timing of this award is perfect’ said Ms McIntosh-Ward. ‘With our new world-class visitor experience due to open in less than 18 months, the Sanctuary is set to become a must do destination for visitors to New Zealand. This award recognises our contribution to New Zealand’s growing sustainable tourism industry and our achievements in managing the Sanctuary as both a visitor attraction and an internationally-respected ecological restoration project.’
The new state-of-the-art facility, which is due to open in summer 2009/10, is New Zealand’s first facility dedicated exclusively to our country’s unique natural history and internationally-renowned contributions to wildlife conservation. As soon as you step through the doors of the exhibition hall it will be like arriving on another planet: New Zealand 1,000 years ago. A totally immersive sound and light show heralds the arrival of humans and the 700 years of devastation that followed. Upstairs you see the fragments of old New Zealand that remained, and what places like the Sanctuary are doing to make them whole again. Visitors will then be invited to experience the Sanctuary first-hand.
Last year the Sanctuary won the Dominion Post Green Gold Award for sustainable business practices and the Ministry for Environment’s Green Ribbon Award for urban sustainability. It was a finalist in the Tourism Industry awards. In 2006 it was voted by New Zealanders as one of ten experiences they wanted to see added to the AA Travel’s ‘101 Must-Dos for Kiwis’ and in 2005, it won a prestigious Skål International Tourism Award. It has been featured as one of ‘35 things not to miss’ in the Rough Guide to New Zealand since 2003 and is currently the only Wellington attraction other than Te Papa to feature in the Lonely Planet guide.
View the awards press release here.
