We’re pretty lucky here in New Zealand to have so many incredible native species – including some pretty unique invertebrates you can spot on New Zealand forest ecotours. New Zealand teems with thousands of different insects and more than 90% of the insects found in New Zealand are unique to our country – there aren’t many other places in the world which have so many endemic species!

Because New Zealand has been isolated in the South Pacific Ocean for tens of millions of years, many of our species have evolved remarkably differently from their relatives overseas. 

Check out some of our favourite native insects found on a New Zealand forest ecotour below:

• Weta

• Cicadas

• Peripatus

• Pūriri moth

• Huhu beetle

• Giraffe weevil

Our amazing guide Cheynne has reached an impressive milestone at Rotorua Canopy Tours - she has joined the exclusive 1000 club. The 1000 club is made up of super experienced guides who funnily enough have done over 1000 tours – and she’s the second female to join the club! Who would have thought someone scared of heights would guide so many people ziplining through a native New Zealand forest?

Australian nature lovers Jackie and Robert Van Dam visited Rotorua Canopy Tours in February 2018 and after going on an experience of a lifetime, generously donated to our Canopy Tours Conservation Trust. Conservation is a huge part of what we’re all about at Rotorua Canopy Tours, but we were absolutely blown away when Jackie and Robert told us they were keen to help us do more. So, what encouraged them to donate to our Canopy Tours conservation programme?

Since the beginning, conservation has been a big part of the Rotorua Canopy Tours journey. Our New Zealand eco tours were never just about the ziplines, it was about a mind-blowing inaccessible forest environment – a life changing encounter with the natural world that would delight and inspire New Zealanders. The forest would provide the magic setting – the ziplines and swing bridges simply a way to experience it. So keep reading to hear all about how our eco tours in New Zealand restored an entire native forest.

There are lots of amazing kiwi guides at Rotorua Canopy Eco Tours who are expert zipliners and are filled with knowledge all about our beautiful native forests.

Santraea has been an eco tours guide at Rotorua Canopy Tours for two years and is always smiling and super bubbly. She grew up in Putaruru, a small town in Waikato and studied a diploma in adventure tourism. When she first heard about Rotorua Canopy Tours she thought it sounded like a really cool business and place to work. While she didn't know much about conservation then, she loved all the conservation efforts Rotorua Canopy Tours was making and thought working as a eco tours guide was a great way to learn more!

Canopy Tours Founder, James Fitzgerald thought that ziplining would be a fun and exciting way to experience the native forest that we were so lucky to have on our doorstep, 7 years on, Canopy Tours has been named one of the best experiences New Zealand has to offer! 

In the native forest where we take you on our Rotorua Canopy Eco Tours, there are many different forms and species of fungi you can find in-between trees, plants and on the canopy floor. Here are some of the fungi that can be found in the Dansey Road Scenic Reserve:

1. Blue Mushroom 
2. Stink Horn Fungus
3. Icicle Fungi
4. Purple Coral Fungi
5. Honey Fungus

One of the benefits of the Rotorua Canopy Tour is that you get the opportunity to see many types of fungi in the native forest. The blue mushroom is a type of fungi that is very eye catching and can be found in the Dansey Road Scenic Reserve. The Dansey Road Scenic Reserve is where Rotorua Canopy Tours take their customers on a eco-tour, ziplining through New Zealand native forest. The bright blue fungi is hard to miss on the forest floor so have a look out for it while you are on your Rotorua Canopy Tour. 

Check out these 8 interesting facts about the blue fungi:

Treetop canopy tours took nearly 5 years from the spark of inspiration until the first customers came on one of our treetop canopy tours with us. Since then over 128,000 guests have enjoyed the magic of this native New Zealand forest.

So if you’re interested – here’s the story of how our zipline tours all began...

Canopy adventure zipline tours has a massive year in 2016. The zipline buisness based in Rotorua took out the tourism industry's top prize, the Air New Zealand Supreme Tourism Award at a glitzy black tie event in Auckland. As well as the Supreme Award Rotorua Canopy Tours also won the Environmental Tourism Award and the Visitor Experience Award.