The initial core project area, started in 2014, comprised 2600ha on the valley floor on both sides of the river and lake, the foothills, and the beach and rocky coastline.
Jobs for Nature funding granted in 2021 has expanded the project area to 12,000ha. A new stoat protection area has been created, extending the existing predator control over to the Kaipo Valley in the south and towards Big Bay in the north.
With no road access, the lower Hollyford is relatively isolated, but can be reached all year round by boat, by air or by walking the Hollyford Track, usually over three to four days. This relative isolation is part of the magic of the place. But what really sets this area apart is the richness of diversity within its dune, wetland, and forest ecosystems.
This is a unique community of visitors and residents who all care deeply for the restoration of the area’s ecology.
The majority of land tenure is public conservation land (Fiordland National Park and Pyke Forest Conservation Area), managed by DOC, however, there are 19 private sections of land on both sides of the Hollyford River and Lake McKerrow, as well as council road reserves (see map below). These landholdings and road reserves resulted from historic settlements at Jamestown and Martins Bay during the 1870s. There are significant pre-European and post-colonial historic sites throughout the area.
Whakatipu Waitai/Martins Bay is at the end of the popular 53km Hollyford track, which is dotted with a network of huts and lodges. The huts are operated by DOC for freedom trampers.
Ngāi Tahu Tourism operates the lodges as part of a private guided walk bringing over 1300 national and international visitors to the area each year. Several thousand more visit the lower Hollyford annually as freedom trampers, hunters, whitebaiters or other recreationalists.
