Our Conservation
Efforts

At Driving Creek, conservation started not after the railway construction-but at its very conception. Barry Brickell designed the railway to follow the contours of the land rather than carve through it, using steep gradients, sharp curves, and hand-dug tunnels that preserved the native terrain. Where many would have bulldozed, Barry used a pick, shovel, and sheer ingenuity to create a transport system that respected the whenua.

This careful approach wasn't just aesthetic-it was ecological. Every metre of track was laid with the intention of disturbing as little as possible, setting a precedent for how infrastructure could coexist with the environment, not replace it.

The forests that now surround the railway were once, when Barry bought the property, open pasture and regrowth scrub. Over decades, Barry and his small crew planted thousands of native trees by hand. Kauri, rimu, tanekaha, pūriri, and countless other species now stand, and naturally regenerate, where bare hills once baked in the sun.

These are not instant forests, nor cosmetic plantings for tourists. They are slow, intentional restorations: ecosystems in progress. What makes Driving Creek's forest special isn't just its beauty, but its story, one of patient reforestation, tree by tree, from the hands of someone who believed the land could heal with enough care and time.

Alongside replanting, predator control has become a vital part of the conservation work at Driving Creek. The regenerated forest is now home to a thriving population of native birds, tūī, kererū, pīwakawaka, riroriro, and kiwi, whose songs echo through the canopy. To protect them, a network of traps covers the hills, targeting invasive predators like stoats, rats, and possums.

This effort is ongoing and hands-on, managed by the Driving Creek Conservation Team, contractors, and involving community partners across the wider area. It's often not glamorous work, but it's essential. Every predator removed from the ngahere gives our native species a better chance to breed, thrive, and rebuild our native ecosystem.

Ecotourism is responsible travel to natural areas that conserves the environment, sustains the well-being of the local people, and creates knowledge and understanding through interpretation and education of all involved. Driving Creek truly showcases ecotourism (e.g., our Railway Tours, Zipline Tours, Pottery Classes) and has done so since long before it became a popular way to attract visitors. The Driving Creek property has been protected by a QEII National Trust covenant since 1992, this protects the local ecosystem in perpetuity.

Driving Creek was never meant to be finished in Barry's lifetime. From the very beginning, he spoke of a "300-year project", a long-view restoration of forest, habitat, and community. This wasn't idealism; it was commitment. He understood that true conservation takes generations, not seasons.

Today, that vision guides everything Driving Creek does. The trees being planted now may not reach their full height for a century. The abundance of birds we hope to hear may not return for years longer. But we plant, trap, and protect anyway, because the future forest starts now. Visitors don't just witness that future taking shape, they become part of it.

Since Barry Brickell passed away 2016 his conservation legacy has continued to grow. His vision to re-create a forest and a functioning native ecosystem remain an essential charitable purpose of Driving Creek. Tourism activities fund the ongoing conservation work.

2019-2024 saw the establishment of a Conservation Team at Driving Creek and a significant and highly successful pest animal (trapping) and environmental weed control operation across the Driving Creek property. Prior to this the main conservation work carried out had been the replanting of the Driving Creek forest.

By 2022 the conservation operations had been expanded ten-fold to include a 300 hectare “buffer zone” beyond the Driving Creek property boundary to further protect and support the biodiversity values around and within the Driving Creek property. Since 2019 the Driving Creek Conservation Team has also focused efforts on hosting community events and educational interactions across conservation topics and activities. Community outreach and engagement have grown steadily.

Other critical components to our conservation work are environmental research, native biodiversity and pest monitoring, and reporting. The discovery of native frog species we did not know were present at Driving Creek and the self-reintroduction of Coromandel brown kiwi have been highlights during the last five years.

Involving the community and visitors in conservation and facilitating education are fundamental to the vision of inspiring people to act for the environment. Along with this kaupapa, we have a focus towards understanding how we can support a wider vision for conservation in the Kapanga catchment.