Tourism operator Real Journeys has embarked on a long-term plan to clear wilding trees and invasive weeds on land it owns on the Von Hill Peninsula.
The peninsula overlooks the Colonel's Homestead and Walter Peak High Country Farm, to which the company operates the vintage steamship TSS Earnslaw.
Real Journeys will also build a public walkway and camping site on the peninsula, as part of a land-swap deal with the Department of Conservation.
The project took a major step forward yesterday, when 16 hectares of wilding Douglas fir were sprayed with herbicide in a joint operation with Doc and the Wakatipu Wilding Conifer Control Group (WCG).
The logging of another 13ha of Douglas fir on the eastern side of the peninsula will begin next month, part of an estimated 90ha of the species that will removed either by logging or spraying.
Another 30ha of land will be cleared of invasive weeds such as broom, gorse and hawthorn.
Real Journeys commercial director Tony McQuilkin said the project's genesis was the company's purchase of 155ha at Walter Peak from Singaporean investors in late 2013.
''Once we had secured ownership, it was beholden on us to be good custodians of this land.''
Although some exotic trees would be retained and pockets of native trees and shrubs would be planted along the peninsula's lake shore this winter, the area would ''look different for a quite a while''.
''But we want to give our guests an authentic Central Otago experience, not a poor copy of North America.''
Doc Queenstown conservation partnerships manager Greg Lind said Real Journeys had discovered that a part of Colonel's Homestead was built on conservation land in the 1970s when it was rebuilt after a fire.
The company had agreed to swap the 700sq m of encroached conservation land for 2000sq m of freehold land it owned at Beach Point.
By June next year, the company would upgrade a 1.2km public walkway to Beach Point at the tip of the peninsula, and build a camping site, picnic area, barbecue, toilet and shelter.
The camping site was ideal for boat users, campers and riders on the Around the Mountains cycle trail, Mr Lind said.
WCG co-chairman Peter Willsman said the restoration project was significant in the fight against wilding trees because of the peninsula's ''protruding position''.
''The prevailing southwesterly winds catch the seeds and send them far across the mountainside in front of Queenstown.''
