Ōtukaikino

Ōtukaikino is a 13-hectare freshwater wetland reserve north of Christchurch, restored over 30 years in partnership with the Department of Conservation. For every funeral Lamb & Hayward arranges, a native plant is established here — a living, growing place of commemoration.

The aim of the restoration project is to recreate what the area would have looked like pre 1850 with progressive native plantings and the removal of all invasive weeds like willow, blackberry and beggars tick.

Support & Volunteering

Ecological commitment

Ōtukaikino wildlife

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A living memorial in a natural setting

Help a Living Legacy Grow

Ōtukaikino is kept alive by dedicated volunteers and ranger staff. Your support helps expand the restoration — planting more natives, caring for what is already growing, and keeping this place alive for generations to come.

Returning the land to itself

Years of Restoration

20 +

Partnership Established

1982

Of Wetland Preserved

3 ha

A joint venture between Lamb & Hayward Funeral Directors and the Department of Conservation, Ōtukaikino has been actively restored since 1992. The goal is to recreate the pre-1850 native wetland habitat — the freshwater ecosystem that once stretched across the Canterbury plains before drainage and farming transformed the landscape. Invasive willows, blackberry, and beggar’s tick are cleared season by season to make way for native sedges, flaxes, and wetland trees.

Wildlife present

Birds

Pūkeko

Purple swamphen

Pīwakawaka

Fantail

Tētē-moroiti

Grey teal

Kuruwhengi

Shoveler

Kotoreke

Marsh crake

Pāpango

Scaup

Mallard duck

Anas platyrhynchos

Aquatic & Wetland

Tuna

Longfin eel

Inanga

Whitebait

Kākahi

Freshwater mussel

Pūpū

Native snail

The return of aquatic species signals a healthy, functioning wetland — each one a measure of the restoration’s depth.

kahikatea - Dacrycarpus dacrydioides

Kahikatea is New Zealand’s tallest native tree and the dominant giant of ancient lowland swamp forests.

unique space for remembrance

A place to reflect

Our goal at Ōtukaikino is to recreate the habitat that existed here before 1850 — clearing invasive species like willow, blackberry, and beggar’s tick, and replacing them with native plantings that once again support the wetland’s original ecology.

The Living Memorial Trust

The Living Memorial Trust is a registered charity dedicated to creating a living memorial while improving the natural environment for both wildlife and people.

Every donation helps protect and enhance Ōtukaikino reserve. It funds native planting, habitat restoration, wetland care, pest and weed management, and the ongoing development of Ōtukaikino reserve so it can continue to flourish for generations to come.

The Living Memorial Trust
Charities Services registration number: CC44183

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Wahi tapu — a place of sacred standing

Ōtukaikino is a Tūāhuriri runanga wāhi tapu site — historically used for burial preparation. Tohunga employed the water, vegetation, and mud of this place in practices of embalming and consecration.

The land carries two names from two histories. Europeans knew it as Wilsons Swamp, after Edward Wilson who farmed the surrounding land from 1850. Its deeper name has endured.

“One of the few remaining original wetlands once common to this landscape — now returned, and held.”

Planning a Funeral