Regenerating the Ruahine Range
The northern region of the Ruahine Range is home to the treasured and very vulnerable North Island brown kiwi.
Thanks to the hard work of mana whenua and community trappers in the Makaretu Valley and Oroua/Pohangina area, New Zealand’s native icon is surviving thanks to a network of over 900 traps. But it’s far from thriving.
South of these areas where there are no traps, pests like stoats, ferrets, possums and feral cats continue to pose a serious threat to the brown kiwi – so much so, the local population of this taonga is functionally extinct.
Helping to save a native icon
To give these little birds a fighting chance, we’re supporting the Southern Ruahine Kiwi Habitat Restoration Project to carry out pest control work across approximately 13,000 hectares.
By establishing an effective trapping network south of the Oroua/Pohangina area, the project will improve forest health and provide a safe environment for kiwi and other native species, like whio (blue duck) and the long-tailed bat.
But traps need to be in place for at least three years before reintroduction can happen. In that time, the birds are being raised in the Mahia and Cape Kidnapper creches with the aim to release kōhanga raised brown kiwi to predator-controlled sites in the Southern Ruahine from 2026.
