What's On at Zealandia

ZEALANDIA has received the precious fruits of the rare plant, pikirangi or green mistletoe (Ileostylus micranthus). This species has disappeared from Te Māra a Tāne (the sanctuary valley) and Wellington City, and is rare in the wider Wellington region.

Kia mauriora te Kaiwharawhara. May the mauri of the Kaiwharawhara stream be well again.

I am the water that runs throughout the Kaiwharawhara water catchment area – the largest stream system in Wellington city.

Our nation’s capital is being celebrated as ‘an ecological triumph’ (National Geographic January 2018)—Wellington is one of the only cities in the world where the diversity of native birds is increasing. This change has been driven by the establishment of ZEALANDIA 22 years ago, the 225 ha sanctuary for wildlife just 3 km from downtown Wellington. 

ZEALANDIA has a 500-year vision of restoration, and our lakes offer a unique challenge in this respect. They are man-made, and restoring them to the state they were in before the dams went up is not really an option. As a result, we are now aiming to create healthy, functioning lake ecosystems here in the heart of Wellington.

Young animals face many challenges when they become independent from their parents. One problem is they need to find food, but have little experience to help them. Even human teenagers can struggle when there’s no one else around to do the shopping, and for wild animals, making the best foraging decisions is even more crucial for their survival. During my PhD I’m investigating how juvenile birds overcome this challenge.

ZEALANDIA’s first 20 years was all about focusing on the land within our pioneering predator-proof fence, and what a success this has been. The valley now harbours a rich habitat for many birds, lizards, and invertebrates, and our vegetation is now thriving. This achievement wouldn’t have been possible without the generosity of a huge range of volunteers, members, staff and donors that have supported the project along the way.

On 18^th November 2017, Greater Wellington Regional Council (GWRC) run its first Freshwater Citizen Science workshop aimed at community groups. This workshop was held in ZEALANDIA as part of its new project, Sanctuary to Sea. Around 40 people from all ages and from various locations around the Wellington region, including Kaiwharawhara water catchment, Owhiro and Waiwhetu streams, attended this instructive and fun event.

With the upcoming lower lake restoration project at ZEALANDIA (the Sanctuary to Sea project), conservation staff thought it would be good to get a baseline on shag nesting so we could measure any effect that the programme might have.

It’s Mental Health Awareness Week and one of the key messages being promoted this year is the power of nature – and with good reason too. 

Last week, it was announced that the planned translocation of 80 tītipounamu / rifleman into the sanctuary in March 2017, followed by another 80 into Otari-Wilton's Bush in 2018 had been postponed due to ZEALANDIA having just learned that population in the Wainuiomata source site (the Wainuiomata / Orongorongo Key Native Ecosystem area) are considerably lower than previously thought.

We asked Dr. Danielle Shanahan, ZEALANDIA’s Conservation Manager, for some background on the postponement and about the next steps in bringing these iconic species into the sanctuary.