Conservation Without Compromise

It takes a fraction of a second to admire the beauty of New Zealand, but much more time to truly love it.

- Charmaine Tai

It has been more than seven years since my last visit to New Zealand and nearly two decades since I first stepped foot onto South Island, which is where I’m headed to once again. I don’t have many memories of my first trip – except that the country featured in my primary school composition about my favourite holiday. Whoever knew that years later, I’d be writing a similar story, with a slightly different lens?

I cling to this thought as I board Singapore Airlines’ Airbus A350-900 from Changi Airport to Christchurch. The business class configuration of 1-2-1 comes with all-aisle access which means that I’ll have my own private cocoon. After dinner, the steward folds out my 28-inch leather seat to form a fully flat bed and I call it a night.

Restoring The Land

Upon touchdown in Christchurch, I’m taken on a short city tour courtesy of Canterbury Leisure Tours. Founder Kevin Edlin doesn’t shy away from revealing why the city’s iconic cathedral is still in a state of ruin, despite the earthquake happening eight years ago. “Repairing the structure isn’t difficult,” he says, “but resetting a foundation in preparation for another possible disaster is much more difficult to pull off.”

The country’s vision, one that works towards a ‘pure’ New Zealand, goes beyond rebuilding its structures, minimising waste and recycling.

Here, it means protecting its mountains and forests from pests. Pests – such as rabbits, deer, possums, cats and even sheep – that a tourist would mistake for native wildlife.