Rotorua Canopy Tours clocks up first year

SUCCESS: Rotorua Canopy Tours directors James Fitzgerald (foreground) and Andrew Blackford, pictured when they opened New Zealand's only native forest zipline tourist operation in Mamaku last year. PHOTO/FILE

Rotorua Canopy Tours has celebrated its first year in business, having taken more than 11,000 people through the pristine Dansey Rd Scenic Reserve, on the outskirts of Rotorua.

Co-founder and company director James Fitzgerald said it had been a big year for the fledging eco-tourism company, which operates New Zealand's only native forest zipline canopy tour and now employs 12 staff to meet demand, even in the middle of winter.

"We're really pleased the tour is generating quite a reputation and it's definitely making a big mark in Rotorua," he said.

TripAdvisor, the world's largest travel review website, has Rotorua Canopy Tours ranked as the No1 activity out of 677 in the North Island and Rotorua.

"It's been a great year. Not only are we happy with the reaction of our customers but we have initiated a major step in our conservation vision to return the forest to a pre-human state."

Through the winter the company has been preparing more than 10km of trapping lines to remove pests such as possums, rats and stoats that prevent about 95 per cent of native birds from reaching adulthood.

More than 500 traps are now in place, with the goal of removing three tonnes of pest species in the coming weeks, to make a safer breeding season for native birds during spring.

"It's the first steps towards creating a forest sanctuary where our customers can literally fly with the birds and encounter native New Zealand wildlife on every tour."

To check on the company's forest restoration process, visit www.forestrestoration.co.nz.