What are we actually trying to restore?

Could Living Springs become an eco-sanctuary? Part 2

Before James Lynch could assess whether an eco-sanctuary at Living Springs was feasible, he had to establish what we actually meant by restoration. It sounds straightforward – plant native trees, control predators, bring back native birds – but ecological restoration is more ambitious than that. 

Jim defines it as assisting the recovery of an ecosystem that has been degraded, damaged, destroyed or transformed. It differs from conservation because conservation can protect what remains. Restoration asks whether some of what has already been lost can be rebuilt. 

That means thinking about much more than trees. A functioning ecosystem includes plants, birds, reptiles, invertebrates and fish, but also the relationships and natural processes that connect them. Plants need to establish, flower, fruit and regenerate; seeds need to disperse; wildlife needs to survive, breed and establish stable populations. 

What would restoration mean at Living Springs?  

This is where Jim’s assessment becomes both ambitious and realistic. Living Springs was once part of a vast, continuous ecosystem stretching across Banks Peninsula and the Port Hills and connecting with the Canterbury Plains beyond. That landscape has been fundamentally transformed. 

Some of its original species are extinct. Others survive in such small numbers that their return is unlikely. Introduced plants and animals are now part of the landscape, and some, including mice and many small plants and invertebrates, cannot realistically be eliminated. 

We also cannot know precisely what the ancient ecosystem looked like or how every part of it functioned. So the goal isn’t to recreate a perfect snapshot of Banks Peninsula before human arrival. Jim concluded that this would no longer be possible. But something substantial is possible. 

Living Springs could restore a forest that is largely representative of the ecosystem that once existed here and overwhelmingly indigenous in its character. The aim should be to restore species belonging to the Lyttelton Harbour and Port Hills ecosystem wherever that is realistically possible. 

Taking a long-term view 

And there is another important reality: this all takes time. Establishing wildlife populations can take decades. Developing mature forest takes centuries. Restoration requires ongoing management rather than reaching a point where we simply declare the job finished. 

That long view runs throughout Jim’s assessment. The question isn’t simply what Living Springs could look like in five or ten years. It is what kind of ecosystem we can begin rebuilding now that people may still be experiencing 30, 50 or 100 years from today. 

That gives us a much clearer definition of the idea Jim was testing. Our goal is not just to create more native bush, fewer predators and more birds. Our ambition is to help rebuild a functioning indigenous ecosystem. 

The next question is why doing that here could matter so much.