Moriori and Māori groups, community trusts, and the New Zealand Department of Conservation Te Papa Atawhai have partnered with global conservation charities to raise $137 million to rewild some of New Zealand’s largest islands so they become safe havens for native wildlife found nowhere else on Earth.
We have an ambitious plan to restore, rewild and protect three island-ocean ecosystems in the southern Pacific Ocean:
- Maukahuka (Auckland Island)
- Rakiura (Stewart Island)
- Chatham Islands, including Rēkohu/Wharekauri (Chatham Island) and Rangihaute / Rangiauria (Pitt Island)
Each of these ecosystems is unique. For millions of years, they evolved separately from the rest of the world, giving rise to plants and animals found only here. Once they are gone from these islands, they are gone from everywhere.
These special islands need our help. Rewilding efforts will include removing harmful introduced predators, protecting threatened wildlife and restoring degraded island ecosystems.
With your support, Maukahuka will once again be covered in fields of chest-high flowering megaherbs, the Chatham Islands will be home to thriving colonies of diverse seabirds like Chatham Island tāiko and albatrosses, and Rakiura will become a refuge for kākāpō. Restoring these islands will also have global impacts by protecting against climate change, saving unique plants and animals from extinction, and supporting indigenous Moriori and Māori people to restore their ancestral lands.
This is groundbreaking island conservation. These will be the largest and most challenging island restoration projects our country has ever attempted and a step change in achieving our nationwide Predator Free 2050 goal. They will help us unlock new methods and grow the toolbox for future island restoration projects at home and around the world.
By joining New Zealand’s pledge to restore the natural biodiversity of these three unique island groups in the southern Pacific Ocean, you will help protect endangered species, restore natural habitats and ensure a sustainable future for generations to come.
