A farm near Glenorchy with a unique geological feature is the proposed setting for an innovative edu-tourism venture.
Called The Future is Wild, the venture — including education, virtual reality, regeneration and reforestation initiatives — is planned for Dart Valley Station.
About 10km from Glenorchy, the 70-hectare farm incorporates a well-known cluster of conical hills called The Hillocks, where the nature trail-focused business would be based from.
Behind the project are farm owner Gerhard Sieber and Arrowtowner Jeremy Railton, as directors of The Hillocks Holdings.
German-born Sieber’s Australian company owns the intellectual property of the global television and publishing franchise, The Future is Wild, made famous by a 2002 TV series of the same name which, using scientific research, projected how the world might look in 5 million, 100m and 200m years’ time.
He bought the station in 2016, after he and his Polish partner had been smitten two years earlier by the top-of-the-lake scenery during their first visit here — they’d been visiting from Australia where they’d first moved to from Germany in 2012.
Sieber and Railton believe Dart Valley Station’s a perfect spot for a plant nursery and education space that’ll be at the heart of their reforestation plan.
Visitors, in guided groups of up to 15, will be taken through a series of small viewing ‘hides’ where they’d use virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) technology to learn about the nursery and the role of native plants in restoring the area’s ecology and biodiversity.
Each group would also be given ownership of a tree that’d be planted on-site — and a chance to join the Future is Wild ‘metaverse’ where regeneration projects can be monitored.
Company CEO Sieber — who estimates the project will cost well over $10 million — says he’s had a lot of support from the University of Otago, in particular.
He and Railton are lodging a resource consent application in the next few days.
A feasibility study’s been completed with co-funding from Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment, and a final decision on further funding’s due in February.
They’re hoping The Future is Wild can be up and running from late 2025.
Sieber, who believes it’s a prime example of sustainability empowered by technology, believes there are benefits not just for the local eco-system but the whole New Zealand conservation sector as to how low-impact attractions can give back to the places they operate from.
Railton, who’s been involved in Gibbston’s wine industry, says ‘‘the project would greatly support existing Glenorchy business infrastructure and would put Glenorchy and the Queenstown Lakes district firmly on the map with regards to sustainable and regenerative tourism’’.
In conjunction with the venture, Sieber’s also planning to transplant his The Future is Wild business here.
