Dream It.
It all started with a vision. In 2012 local Tamahere resident, Leo Koppens set out to rescue a neglected piece of rare and acutely threatened example of a kahikatea forest and wetland environment that once covered the Waikato area. He recognised that this small section of the Mangaone stream gully where an all but vanished ecosystem existed, could be restored. The Mangaone stream flows in a north west direction, parallel with SH1 in Tamahere before joining with the Mangaharakeke and Mangonua streams and flowing into the Waikato river at Riverlea.
It was a daunting task to rescue the reserve from its weed-chocked, trash-strewn neglected state.
After clearing work was completed hundreds of native plants selected for their specific location in the gully were planted. There is also a significant area of naturally occurring native fauna which has flourished and compliments the new plantings. The reserve has several significant Kahikatea, some of them estimated to be more than 200 years old.