In 1992 Lamb & Hayward and the Department of Conservation, supported by Te Ngai Tuahuriri Runanga, formed a unique partnership to restore and manage an area as a "Living Memorial" at Otukaikino Reserve.

The Living Memorial is a service exclusive to Lamb and Hayward and available, at no cost, to all our clients.

Otukaikino is significant for Te Runanga o Ngai Tahu, and especially appropriate for a living memorial as it was once used for burial preparation and is designated a Wai Tapu site. The water, vegetation and mud were used by Tohunga (priests) for embalming purposes.

The Department of Conservation, in partnership with Lamb & Hayward and Tuahuriri Runanga, is restoring this wetland reserve by the gradual planting of living memorials - native trees and plants - donated by Lamb & Hayward, to commemorate each funeral organised by the Company (at no cost to the client). There are no burials within this reserve and specific trees are not dedicated to anyone person).

The Reserve encompasses Wilson's Swamp named after Robert and Margaret Wilson, the first European settlers on this land, in 1854, and their descendents who held the land until the beginning of the Northern Motorway in 1961. Over the years most of the original native vegetation and associated native wildlife disappeared from the area.

Today, Otukaikino consists of 13ha of freshwater wetland reserve to the north of Christchurch - at the southern end of the northern motorway. It is one of the few remaining original wetlands that were once common around Christchurch. The entrance is signposted off the Main North Road, between Chaneys Corner and the Belfast end of the motorway. A boardwalk taking approximately twenty minutes meanders around the wetland, through tall raupo, flaxes and grasses. Sitting areas are placed along the way.

Each year families and friends are invited to attend an inter-denominational memorial service at Otukaikino, when all the plantings of the past year are dedicated as memorials to all those who have died over that year. There is wheelchair access and off street parking.