A $2 million ecological restoration project is set to transform one of New Zealand's premier golf courses into a pest-free bird sanctuary.
Work has begun on a 5km pest-proof fence around the 150ha Wairakei International Golf Course, about 6km north of Taupo.
Voted one of the world's top 100 courses outside the United States by Golf Digest in 2005, Wairakei is likely to become the country's only pest-free course when the 2m-high stainless steel and iron mesh fence is completed in October.
The exclusive Cape Kidnappers Golf Course in Hawkes Bay has a pest-proof fence, but it does not encompass the entire course.
The Wairakei development is the brainchild of owner Gary Lane, who wanted to create an environment where golf and the natural habitat worked in harmony.
Mr Lane - ranked 46th on last year's NBR Rich List - said his vision to work with ecological experts to create an environment that enhanced the golf course's natural beauty and surroundings had been realised.
"Being able to provide a haven for plant and birdlife will give golf at Wairakei another dimension by adding to the visual experience without impacting on the course."
Rotorua ecologist Dr Tim Day said the fence was designed to prevent all pests, from rats and rabbits to possums and feral cats, from entering the property, or the 60ha golf course.
He said total pest eradication would probably take up to two years, but would allow the existing bird species such as tui, bellbird, pheasant and quail to thrive.
"If they're released from that predatory pressure then you are going to get better breeding and if they plant winter food in particular for those nectar-feeding birds it won't take long before the species breed successfully.
"There has to be a spillover effect into the greater region. In the Waikato people's residential gardens have got tui and bellbirds showing up from Maungatautari and there's no reason why it can't happen here."
Dr Day said an ecological report for stage two of the development was yet to be completed, but it was likely to include substantial native and exotic plantings.
Fallow deer and even kiwi could eventually be introduced to the course.
In preparation for the restoration phase, the lake on the course's 18th hole has been extended for development of wetland areas.
"The restoration activities will add a new dimension to the experience for a group of people who might not otherwise be exposed to this sort of project or its benefits," Dr Day said. "It is a magnificent landscape with obvious potential."
Wairakei is where world amateur golf champion Danny Lee sharpened his game.