It was great exploring the Feehly Hill planting site out in Arrowtown this weekend and imagining what Central Otago would have looked like before humans.
Many of us believe that the semi-arid landscape we see all around us is what it should be, but surprisingly that's not the case. Kowhai rich Dry woodlands/ grey shrublands would of been common in Cromwell, Bannockburn, Clyde, etc before humans started clearing and modifying the land.
It is vital for us humans to reintroduce these species and ecosystems to the region to prevent further extinction of endemic species and for us to gain more from our time in the outdoors.
To learn more about Wakatipu Reforestation Trust and their planting sites, visit:

New Zealand’s longfin eels have been classified as “at-risk declining” by the New Zealand Threat Classification System and faced pressures from ongoing habitat loss, commercial fishing, migration barriers and mortality at hydro-structures.
The eel trapping and transfer programme catches and measure eels before releasing the migrants downstream of Roxburgh Dam. From there, the fish still have another 120km to swim to the sea.