Here at Mohua Park, we have consciously made sustainable choices in the planning and rebuild of the property. We wanted to create an environment that allows people to connect with nature. We've achieved this by the materials we have chosen for construction, by designing our buildings to complement the landscape, and we have setup practices for waste reduction, energy and water savings. We encourage our guests to actively participate in these practices due to a focus on sustainable living.

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Support Conservation at Mohua Park-Your Stay Makes a Difference

Help Protect and Restore Nature During Your Visit

At Mohua Park, we believe in living lightly and working together to preserve the beauty and biodiversity of our unique corner of New Zealand. By staying with us, you are already part of our mission to care for the land, but there are even more ways you can help make a lasting impact.

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Contribute to Conservation Efforts

During your stay, you have the opportunity to support our conservation projects directly:

• Contribute toward a Trapinator Trap: Introduced pests threaten our native wildlife and forests. By contributing toward a Trapinator possum trap, you’re helping us protect birds and plants.

• Contribute toward a Vanguard Rat Trap: you directly support the protection of native bush and wildlife. This trap helps reduce rats, an introduced pest, which threaten birds and native plants. This pest control allows the native ecosystem to recover and thrive, increasing biodiversity and creating a safer, healthier environment for local species.

• Sponsor a Native Plant: Help us restore habitat and increase biodiversity by donating towards the purchase of a native tree or shrub. We will attach a plaque with your chosen name to show your contribution. Your sponsorship will go toward planting new life at Mohua Park, creating food and shelter for our precious native species.

How Your Gift Works

• Every contribution—big or small—directly funds pest control or habitat restoration on-site.

• We’ll keep records of every trap or plant contribution made by guest donations.

• Where possible, we’ll share updates and photos on social media so you can see your impact.

Get Involved

If you’d like to contribute, when booking online simply select your preferred conservation option from the extras drop down menu. If booking by phone or in person, let us know which project you’d like to support. We’re grateful for every guest who helps us nurture and protect Mohua Park for generations to come.

Thank you for being part of our vision for a wilder, healthier New Zealand!

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Pest Eradication

Timms traps are designed to humanely target possums without harming non-target species, while bait stations are placed in locations frequented by rats and stoats to maximise effectiveness and minimise risks to other wildlife. Weekly checks are conducted on our traps and all of these measures support bird life and forest rejuvenation. Since implementing these measures, we have observed an increase in native bird sightings and healthier forest regeneration in the area.

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Track monitoring & maintenance

Bush tracks are maintained without disturbing the ground roots or young plants. Bush weeds and vines are carefully monitored and cut down when possible, as per the QE11 covenant agreement for Mohua Park. The QEII covenant agreement is a legally binding protection for natural areas, ensuring that native habitats are preserved and managed according to conservation best practices. Regular audits and monitoring ensure that all activities align with the QEII covenant’s requirements.

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Waste Management

All goods purchased for Mohua Park are being purchased as bulk items. We are providing our own containers for this to eliminate plastic bag use from primary industry goods. All of our food, where possible, is locally sourced. Our eggs come from our own hens, and seasonal vegetables are harvested directly from our gardens, supporting local biodiversity and reducing transportation emissions

We encourage our guests in the safe disposal of their waste, and active recycling of waste from the cottages.

All cottages are equipped with recycling bins and compost bins are also provided.

Food waste is composted and reused in the property gardens or fed to our hens.

Green Waste is collected where possible and composted or is left to sit in its natural state in the bush, as per our QE11 Covenant agreement.

By minimising plastic use, composting food waste, and sourcing locally, we significantly reduce our carbon footprint and contribute to a healthier ecosystem.

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Homestead Gardens

Care has been taken with clearing the homestead gardens of bothersome weeds. New soil has been added to build up the garden beds.

Research carried out for era style plantings for the villa. The gardens have been replanted with old fashioned tea/hybrid roses, herbs to be used while retaining the thousands of bulbs discovered in the clean-up. An area has been extensively cleared by the green shed, this was an area that was choking in bush vine and weeds, this has been resown with a beautiful mix of wildflowers enhancing the area for many months, which in turn, encourages bees and butterflies to the area.

All non-potable water, for all of our gardens and tunnel houses, is collected from our very own on-site spring, which is then stored for future use.

 

Alternative heating

All cottages have heat pumps, which efficiently transfer heat from the outside air to warm the interior, reducing energy consumption compared to traditional heaters. In addition, they use solar hot water assist systems that harness sunlight to heat water, further lowering carbon emissions.

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Water

Natural rain collection is our only source of water at Mohua Park and our total storage is 145,000 litres.

A water level indicator allows us to easily monitor water usage and careful monitoring is carried out throughout the summer months.

We use Leaf Eater Advanced “Clean Shield” debris catchment technology systems on all our downpipes leading to the water tanks. This ensures that the .955mm aperture mosquito proof stainless steel screens filters leaves and debris before they enter the water tanks.

Our water purification system (Puretec Hybrid-R4) is for all cottages, this is a 2-stage filtration (1x 20 micron sediment filter and 1x solid 1 micron filter) plus UV light system (kills 99.9% of bacteria that’s completely eco-friendly and chemical free), to make sure all water our guests receive is above industry standards.

At Mohua Park, sustainability lies at the heart of everything we do. We are proud to embrace innovative eco-friendly solutions that minimize our environmental impact. One such practice is our deliberate decision to maintain low water pressure throughout our accommodations.

Why Low Water Pressure?

🌱 Water Conservation: By adopting low water pressure, we significantly reduce water consumption without compromising your comfort. Every drop saved is a step towards protecting our precious natural resources.

🌱 Energy Efficiency: Lower water pressure translates into reduced energy consumption for water heating, which helps lower our overall carbon footprint and contributes to a greener tomorrow.

🌱 Respect for Nature: The Catlins region boasts breathtaking landscapes and delicate ecosystems. Our low water pressure approach is our way of showing respect for the beauty that surrounds us and preserving it for generations to come.

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Our ECO Cottages

Our cottages are stocked with eco products including shampoo, body wash and hand wash. You’ll find eco dish washing liquid and we use environmentally friendly and septic safe non-toxic cleaning products.

In 2023 we installed at our Kahu cottage, from the USA, a top of the line, luxury, two person spa pool. This spa has the latest technology which includes a FreshWater® III high-output ozone generator plus the exclusive FreshWater IQ, in-line self monitoring salt water system as well as a 100% no-bypass filtration system which the Tri-X filters ensure that the water is always kept clean. The Hot Spring® Energy Smart® system also makes certain that the spa will be hot and ready for our guests whilst keeping energy costs low.

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We follow the principles of the Tiaki Promise and share these values