 Many parts of the current Otari-Wilton's Bush reserve have been designated as reserve by the New Zealand government and Wellington City Council.This includes most of the remnants of the mature podocarpaceae forest that once cloaked all of Wellington and the surrounding hills.The forest area holds native trees that are hundreds of years old, like matai "Prumnopitys taxifolia" and rimu "Dacrydium cupressinum", as well as tawa "Beilschmiedia tawa", rewarewa "Knightia excelsa" and kohekohe "Dysoxylum spectabile".