Kew Bush Restoration and Education Programme was named the Environmental Action in the Community winner at this year's Environment Southland Community Awards held at Ascot Park Hotel on 3rd October.

Kew Bush is 3.3 hectares of native bush and trails located on the grounds of Southland Hospital. The bush is a remnant of Southland's once widespread Kahikatea forests which thrived across the southern plains before pastoral activities.

The programme also involves students from Southern Institute of Technology's (SIT) Bachelor of Environmental Management course.

SIT Environmental Management Tutor, Jordon Traill, said the School of Environmental Management (EM) had taken its students on excursions and working bees to Kew Bush for years and it was now part of their curriculum.

It provides a great example of old-growth remnant forest as well as a successful restoration programme, he said.

“The forest is like stepping back in time; it’s our natural history."

"Kew Bush was looking pretty overrun by pests and degraded before the Friends of Kew Bush [lead by Alan McPherson] did something about it in the 1990s.

When the Friends of Kew Bush were looking for people to step up and help, Traill said it was an easy choice for the EM school to take on more of a central role in the project.

“That’s how the Kew Bush Restoration and Education programme got started.”

“Our students have been doing the trapping, weeding and planting as community members.”

Environment Southland also provided funding, through the Enhanced Environment Fund, as well as expert advice from Catriona Gower, he said.

Traill admitted gaining recognition for the Kew Bush project had come as a shock.

“The groups who were in the same category were doing amazing work; to win the award was a big surprise for our group – none of us had prepared a speech.”

The councillors who chose the awardees mentioned the positive partnership and succession planning.

“They noted that seeing a project passed down to a new generation was great to see."

"It was a very inspiring event and a showcase of the hard work so many people do to improve the environment in Murihiku,” Traill said.