Construction of a predator-proof fence at Bushy Park is to begin in early November. For the past 12 months the Bushy Park Trust has been seeking funding for the fence and a kiwi recovery programme at the reserve 24km from Wanganui. The total received so far was raised to $650,000 by adonation of $150,000 from the New Zealand Lottery Grants Board's environment and heritage committee last week. The total amount needed was $930,000, the trust's executive committee chairman Allan Anderson said. He was confident it would be raised. "To date some 350 funding agencies, trusts, companies and individuals from Northland to Dunedin have contributed to the project." It was estimated that the fence would take 96 working days to complete and that the completed project would be opened in late April or early May. Mr Anderson said exclusion of predators such as stoats would transform what was already a superb nature sanctuary into a protected haven for rare and endangered native bird species.
