F&B Manawatū Monthly Meeting

Talk: “Ruahine Kiwi Habitat Restoration Project”
Speaker: Paul Jansen, Department of Conservation

The Mahia and Cape Kidnapper kiwi kohanga/ creches are having huge success with their breeding programs. Thirty to sixty birds are expected to be ready for release each year to suitable predator-controlled sites. The current sites are full to overflowing and the southern Ruahine has been identified as a possible release area. Kiwi thrive in any area that has an effective trapping network. Currently there is a network of over 900 traps in the Pohangina and Oroua Rivers that are in place to protect the Whio (Blue Duck) and these traps are regularly serviced by a large number of Ruahine Whio Protector volunteers.

The plight of the Eastern Brown Kiwi is not as rosy as other Kiwi taxa, with its habitat reducing and the population fragmented and the plan is to expand on this trapping network southwards and depending on funding, the project area will be anywhere between 10,000 and 40,000 hectares. After three years of effective trapping and monitoring, in 2026 kiwi will again be at home in the Southern Ruahine Range.

All welcome. Gold coin donation appreciated.