On 23 April, a Blue Plaque was unveiled on a Pōhutukawa tree at 15 Pingau Street, Paekākāriki, honouring Captain Val Sanderson, founder of the organisation that became Aotearoa’s Forest & Bird Society.Internationally recognised markers, blue plaques commemorate notable people, events, or places. In New Zealand, they are managed by Historic Places Aotearoa. Paekākāriki’s plaque is the fourth in the Wellington region—and the only one on a tree.
The other three are on permanent structures: Randell Cottage (Thorndon), Home of Compassion Crèche (Buckle Street), and Hope Gibbons Building (Dixon Street).The decision to mount the Pingau Street blue plaque on a tree was a specific tribute to the nature of Sanderson’s work as an environmentalist.
On this spot, purchased in 1929, he built a cottage (Te Kōhanga) and established a native forest on an exposed sand dune. Many people were sceptical that such a feat was even possible. His widow, Nellie Sanderson, once noted, “The neighbours laughed and said it would all be destroyed by the first big winds.” But the determined Captain set out to prove his detractors wrong. Among the natives that he planted were Poroporo, Wharangi, Taupata, Makomako, Kotukutuku, Koromiko, Ngutukākā (kakabeak), Pukanui, Taraire, Karamū, Rātā, Karaka, Karo, Ngaio, Whau, Taupata, Ake-ake, Pōhutukawa, Ti-toki, Tarata, Ti (cabbage-tree), Mamaku, (a tree-fern), Puriri, Māhoe, Kawakawa, Mānuka , Whauwhi (lacebark) and Patete (fivefinger).
Captain Sanderson’s ‘Paekākāriki experiment’ received national attention. However, he is best known for founding a nature reserve on Kapiti Island, visible from his living room window. He accomplished this through effective and persistent advocacy with both the media and politicians, sometimes making him unpopular. The plaque’s installation has been in the pipeline for some time.
The brainchild of longtime conservationist, Paul Callister from Ngā Uruora, and Dave Johnson, Chair of the Paekākāriki Museum Trust, the project was advanced by a group including Historic Places Wellington, the Paekākāriki Museum Trust, Forest & Bird, Ngā Uruora, and others.Sanderson’s cottage was sold in May 2025. Its previous owner had maintained the property in pristine condition, preserving many of its original features and surrounding forest.
The current owner is also committed to these goals and facilitated the plaque’s installation.A poignant element of the memorial is that it was placed by a longtime Paekākāriki resident, sculptor Daryl Grey. Daryl grew up on Pingau Street and, as a schoolboy, assisted Sanderson’s long lived wife Nellie Sanderson with her gardening.Funding for the Blue Plaque commemorating Captain Sanderson was generously provided by Paekākāriki Station Museum, Felicity Wong, Chair of Historic Places Wellington, and Forest & Bird.
From Paekakariki.NZ
Photos by Bob Zuur Moments of Light Photography
