Good Job, Job W
ellington has a lot to thank Job Wilton for.
The early settler refused to burn off all the bush on his 700-hectare farm on the city’s western hills, choosing instead to save some native fauna for generations to come. That was almost 100 years ago when the first European colonists were busy clearing land to build the city. Today the reserve known as Ōtari Wilton’s Bush is a very popular destination for locals and visitors alike. Tim Park, Manager of the country’s only botanic gardens dedicated solely to native plants, reckons Job Wilton would be very happy to see the way Ōtari is connecting people with nature today.
No longer a place of many snares or traps Before Job Wilton, Māori settlers had long appreciated the abundance of flora, fauna and birdlife in the area. In fact, Ōtari was originally called Ōtari Kākā, a place of many snares or traps, a place where you could catch many Kaka. Thanks to Job and his foresight to fence off and preserve seven hectares at the top of the bush, Kākā along with Kererū, Kārearea. Kākāriki Tūī, Pīwakawaka, Kōtare, Riroriro and Ruru all call Ōtari home.
‘All weathers, no excuses’ In 1906 the forest was gazetted as a scenic reserve and then in the mid1920s the Ōtari Open Air Native Plant Museum was established. The idea
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