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Kirk's Bush

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Coordinates: 37°04′26″S 174°56′30″E / 37.0739°S 174.9417°E / -37.0739; 174.9417
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Kirk's Bush
Map
TypePublic park
LocationPapakura, Auckland, New Zealand
Coordinates37°04′26″S 174°56′30″E / 37.0739°S 174.9417°E / -37.0739; 174.9417
Area6.9 hectares (17 acres)[1]
Created1921 (1921)
Operated byAuckland Council
StatusOpen year round

Kirk's Bush is a protected area of remnant native forest on Great South Road in Papakura, South Auckland, New Zealand. Dominated by mature taraire trees, the forest includes the largest known taraire tree in the world. Kirk's Bush was established as a scenic reserve in 1921, after community opposition to the forest's possible subdivision and sale.

Geography

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Kirk's Bush is located in Papakura, at the intersection of Great South Road and Beach Road.[2] It is a remnant of the extensive forest that covered the Papakura area prior to European settlement.[3] The park is primarily bush, connected by networks of paths and boardwalks, and adjoins Southern Park.[4]

Biodiversity

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Taraire fruit in Kirk's Bush

Kirk's Bush is a remnant native forest dominated by mature taraire trees.[5] Other major tree species found in the bush include tawa, pukatea, rewarewa, pūriri, mangeao, tītoki and karaka.[1] Kirk's Bush has smaller sections of Podocarp forest, where rimu, kahikatea and miro grow.[1] The ground is dominated by leaf-litter, with occasional understory plants, including kohekohe, hangehange and pigeonwood.[1]

Kirk's Bush is the location of the largest known taraire tree in the world, measuring 20.5 m (67 ft) in height and having a trunk diameter of 107 cm (42 in).[6]

Kirk's Bush serves as the type location of several species, including Rhinocladium dingleyae, a fungus found growing on rotting pukatea wood,[7] Circinotrichum papakurae and Strigula novae-zelandiae, both of which are found on decaying taraire leaves.[8][9]

History

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Kirk's Bush was known by the name Chisholm's Bush in the 19th century, after Papakura settler Adam Chisholm.[10] The forest received the name Kirk's Bush after the Kirk brothers, settlers in Papakura who owned the property between 1894 and 1918.[3] The bush was used as a site of community picnics in the 1890s.[11][12]

In the 1910s and early 1920s, the Papakura community discussed acquiring the bush as a recreation reserve after the death of James Kirk, as the land was at risk of being developed into housing.[13][14][15] Owing to the community protests, including a visit by Reverend William Charles Wood to the New Zealand Parliament, the Minister of Lands proclaimed that the land would be acquired by the New Zealand government under the Public Works Act on 19 November 1921, the same day that the land was to be sold at auction.[16][17] It was later revealed that Prime Minister William Massey was responsible for the decision to save the bush from development.[18]

In 1930, Robert John Willis and Alfred Willis donated an additional 2.75 acres (1.11 ha) to the scenic reserve.[19] During this time period, Japanese honeysuckle had become a major invasive pest in the bush.[20]

Over time, Kirk's Bush developed an unsavoury reputation,[21] for reasons including heavy graffiti[22] and sexual assaults.[23][24]

In the early 2000s, the Friends of Kirk's Bush was established as a local community group to restore the nature of Kirk's Bush and improve the bush as a community amenity.[21]

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  • Forested area
    Forested area
  • Sports fields adjacent to Kirk's Bush
    Sports fields adjacent to Kirk's Bush
  • Graffiti in Kirk's Bush
    Graffiti in Kirk's Bush

References

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  1. ^ a b c d Wilcox, M. D. (2001). "Establishment of forest monitoring plots in Kirks Bush Papakura with special reference to Taraire (Beilschmiedia tarairi)" (PDF). Auckland Botanical Society Journal. 56 (2): 76–79.
  2. ^ New Zealand. Department of Lands and Survey (1960). "Map of Auckland south : Papatoetoe, Manurewa, Papakura, and including Howick. Auckland Libraries Heritage Collections Map 9317". Auckland Libraries. Retrieved 15 July 2025.
  3. ^ a b "AR/1818". New Zealand Notable Trees Trust. Retrieved 15 July 2025.
  4. ^ "Kirks Bush". Auckland Council. Retrieved 15 July 2025.
  5. ^ Singers, N.; Osborne, B.; Lovegrove, T.; Jamieson, A.; Boow, J.; Sawyer, J.; Hill, K.; Andrews, J.; Hill, S.; Webb, C. (2017). Indigenous terrestrial and wetland ecosystems of Auckland (PDF) (Report). Auckland Council. ISBN 978-0-9941351-7-9. Retrieved 15 July 2025.
  6. ^ Barton, Ian. "Taraire (Beilschmiedia tarairi)". Tāne’s Tree Trust. Retrieved 15 July 2025.
  7. ^ Hughes, S. J. (June 1980). "New Zealand Fungi 29. Rhinocladium Sacc. et March". New Zealand Journal of Botany. 18 (2): 163–172. doi:10.1080/0028825X.1980.10426913. ISSN 0028-825X. Wikidata Q55981197.
  8. ^ Hughes, S. J.; Pirozynski, K. A. (March 1971). "New Zealand fungi 15. Beltraniella, Circinotrichum, and Gyrothrix (Syn. Peglionia)". New Zealand Journal of Botany. 9 (1): 39–45. doi:10.1080/0028825X.1971.10430169. ISSN 0028-825X. Wikidata Q99859759.
  9. ^ Nag Raj, T. R. (1 December 1981). "Genera coelomycetum. XIX. Discosiella, a lichenized mycobiont". Canadian Journal of Botany (in Italian). 59 (12): 2519–2533. doi:10.1139/B81-302. ISSN 0008-4026. Wikidata Q99868798.
  10. ^ Finlay, Rob (2024). "Baffled by Pre-emption: the Pioneers that Weren't". The Papakura Sentinel (69). Papakura & District Historical Society: 4–9.
  11. ^ "Papakura Presbytarian Picnic". The New Zealand Herald. Vol. XXXI, no. 9698. 19 December 1894. p. 5 – via Papers Past.
  12. ^ "Untitled". Auckland Star. Vol. XXVI, no. 25. 30 January 1895. p. 8 – via Papers Past.
  13. ^ "Papakura". Pukekohe & Waiuku Times. Vol. 5, no. 171. 5 May 1916. p. 4 – via Papers Past.
  14. ^ "Bush at Papakura". The New Zealand Herald. Vol. LVIII, no. 17927. 1 November 1921. p. 3 – via Papers Past.
  15. ^ "Bush Area Threatened". The New Zealand Herald. Vol. LVIII, no. 17935. 10 November 1921. p. 6 – via Papers Past.
  16. ^ "Beauty Spot Saved". The New Zealand Herald. Vol. LVIII, no. 17946. 23 November 1921. p. 11 – via Papers Past.
  17. ^ "Kirk's Bush Controversy". The New Zealand Herald. Vol. LVIII, no. 17943. 19 November 1921. p. 8 – via Papers Past.
  18. ^ "Papakura Reserve". The New Zealand Herald. Vol. LXXII, no. 22268. 16 November 1935. p. 15 – via Papers Past.
  19. ^ "Papakura Reserve". The New Zealand Herald. Vol. LXVII, no. 20493. 19 February 1930. p. 12 – via Papers Past.
  20. ^ "Japanese Honeysuckle". The New Zealand Herald. Vol. LXIX, no. 21332. 5 November 1932. p. 8 – via Papers Past.
  21. ^ a b "Great South Stories: Kirks' Bush". Newsroom. 24 September 2018. Retrieved 15 July 2025.
  22. ^ "Graffiti tags test yoghurt". Papakura Courier. 31 January 2009. Retrieved 15 July 2025.
  23. ^ "Papakura sex attacker behind bars". The New Zealand Herald. 11 November 2015. Retrieved 15 July 2025.
  24. ^ Loren, Anna (25 March 2015). "Student's bush petition pays off". Stuff. Retrieved 15 July 2025.
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