| Wharariki Ecosanctuary | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Nearest city | Collingwood |
| Coordinates | 40°29′57″S172°41′44″E / 40.4992°S 172.6956°E |
| Area | 2.5 ha (6.2 acres) |
| Established | January 2020 |
| Operator | Farewell Wharariki HealthPost Nature Trust |
Wharariki Ecosanctuary is a wildlife sanctuary within a predator-proof fence at Cape Farewell, New Zealand.
The Wharariki Ecosanctuary is located on a headland on the Wharariki coastline at Cape Farewell. It is sited on conservation land that is managed as the Puponga Farm Park. [1] [2]
The project was initiated by Peter Butler, who created a trust in 2017 to protect local wildlife in the region from Wharariki Beach to the tip of Farewell Spit. [3] The Farewell Wharariki HealthPost Nature Trust was registered as a Charitable Trust in May 2021. [4]
The sanctuary has been created in a collaboration between the Collingwood-based HealthPost Nature Trust, the Department of Conservation and Manawhenua ki Mōhua, representing Ngāti Tama, Te Ātiawa and Ngāti Rārua in the Golden Bay/ Mohua area. Starting in September 2019, a 200 metres (660 ft) predator-proof fence was constructed above the cliffs at Wharariki, enclosing 2.5 ha (6.2 acres). [5] The fence was completed in January 2020, [6] and the sanctuary was officially opened by Eugene Sage (Minister of Conservation), along with local iwi, and the sanctuary patron, broadcaster Kim Hill. [7]
Prior to the translocation of burrow-nesting seabirds, the area was prepared by building artificial burrows, trapping pests and planting around the site. [8]
In the Sustainable Business Awards 2021, HealthPost received a commendation in the Restoring Nature Award category, for their work in developing the ecosanctuary. [9]
By 2021, around 3000 trees had been planted in the sanctuary and around the Wharariki wetland. Species planted include kanuka, kaikomako and ti kouka (cabbage tree). [10]
In January 2022, 50 fluttering shearwater (Puffinus gavia) or pakahā chicks were translocated from the Long Island – Kokomohua Marine Reserve in Queen Charlotte Sound to the Wharariki Ecosanctuary. [11] [8] They were the first species to be introduced to the fenced sanctuary. [12]
In January 2023, another 56 fluttering shearwater chicks were translocated from the Long Island – Kokomohua Marine Reserve to the Wharariki Ecosanctuary. They were transferred due to weather events impacting their burrows on Long Island. It is hoped they will establish a breeding colony. [13] One of the group of volunteers assisting with the relocation was teenage environmentalist Nate Wilbourne. [14]
A third translocation of chicks to the sanctuary was undertaken in January 2024, with 92 chicks moved from Long Island – Kokomohua. [15] [16]
The magenta petrel, or Chatham Island tāiko, is a small seabird in the gadfly petrel genus, Pterodroma. Found exclusively on Chatham Island, New Zealand it is one of the rarest birds in the world, believed to be extinct for over 100 years before its rediscovery in the 1970s.
Farewell Spit is a narrow sand spit at the northern end of the Golden Bay, in the South Island of New Zealand. The spit includes around 25 km (16 mi) of stable land and another 5 km (3.1 mi) of mobile sand spit running eastwards from Cape Farewell, the northern-most point of the South Island. Farewell Spit is the longest sand spit in New Zealand, and is a legally protected Nature Reserve. The area is designated as a Ramsar wetland site and an East Asian–Australasian Flyway Shorebird Network site. Farewell Spit is administered by the New Zealand Department of Conservation as a seabird and wildlife reserve. Apart from a small area at the base of the spit, it is closed to the public except through organised tours. Conservation initiatives are in progress towards eliminating mammalian predators from Farewell Spit, including a proposal for a predator-proof fence.
Codfish Island / Whenua Hou is a small island located to the west of Stewart Island in southern New Zealand. It reaches a height of 250 m (820 ft) close to the south coast. The island is home to Sirocco, an internationally famous kākāpō, a rare species of parrot.
Cape Kidnappers, known in Māori as Te Kauwae-a-Māui and officially gazetted as Cape Kidnappers / Te Kauwae-a-Māui, is a headland at the southeastern extremity of Hawke's Bay on the east coast of New Zealand's North Island and sits at the end of an 8 kilometres (5.0 mi) peninsula which protrudes into the Pacific Ocean. It is 20 kilometres (12 mi) south-east of the city of Napier. Access to the cape by road stops at Clifton, which is the departure point for many tourists visiting the gannet colony. The Cape Kidnappers Golf Course lies between the headland and the nearby coastal community of Te Awanga.
The Westland petrel(Procellaria westlandica),, also known as the Westland black petrel, is a moderately large seabird in the petrel family Procellariidae, that is endemic to New Zealand. Described by Robert Falla in 1946, it is a stocky bird weighing approximately 1,100 grams (39 oz), and is one of the largest of the burrowing petrels. It is a dark blackish-brown colour with black legs and feet. It has a pale yellow bill with a dark tip.
Zealandia, formerly known as the Karori Wildlife Sanctuary, is a protected natural area in Wellington, New Zealand, the first urban completely fenced ecosanctuary, where the biodiversity of 225 ha of forest is being restored. The sanctuary was previously part of the water catchment area for Wellington, between Wrights Hill and the Brooklyn wind turbine on Polhill.
Cape Farewell is a headland in New Zealand, the most northerly point on the South Island. It is located just west of Farewell Spit (Onetahua). First mapped by Abel Tasman, it was named by British explorer Captain James Cook in 1770 —it was the last land seen by his crew as they departed on the ship's homeward voyage.
Orokonui Ecosanctuary, called Te Korowai o Mihiwaka in Māori, is an ecological island wildlife reserve developed by the Otago Natural History Trust in the Orokonui Valley between Waitati and Pūrākaunui, New Zealand, 20 kilometres (12 mi) to the north of central Dunedin.
A pest-exclusion fence is a barrier that is built to exclude certain types of animal pests from an enclosure. This may be to protect plants in horticulture, preserve grassland for grazing animals, separate species carrying diseases from livestock, prevent troublesome species entering roadways, or to protect endemic species in nature reserves. These fences are not necessarily traditional wire barriers, but may also include barriers of sound, or smell.
The fluttering shearwater is a species of seabird in the family Procellariidae. It is endemic to New Zealand and migrates to Australia and the Solomon Islands. Its natural habitats are open seas and rocky shores. It has been known as Forster's shearwater in the past.
Hutton's shearwater is a medium-sized ocean-going seabird in the family Procellariidae. Its range is Australian and New Zealand waters, but it breeds only in mainland New Zealand. Its conservation status is Endangered, because there are just two remaining breeding colonies, located in the Seaward Kaikōura Range. Six other shearwater colonies have been wiped out by introduced pigs. Hutton's shearwater is the only seabird in the world that is known to breed in alpine areas. Conservation measures for the bird include community initiatives to rescue birds that crash-land at night on streets in Kaikōura, and the establishment of a protected area on the Kaikōura Peninsula including a predator-proof fence, man-made burrows, and translocating fledglings from the remaining colonies.
The Brook Waimārama Sanctuary is a nearly 700 hectare mainland "ecological island" sanctuary located 6 km south of Nelson, New Zealand. The sanctuary is the largest fenced sanctuary in New Zealand's South Island and the second largest in the country; it is the only sanctuary to feature mature New Zealand beech forest.
The tiny settlement of Pūponga in New Zealand is the northernmost settlement in the South Island. It is in the Tasman District, 18 kilometres (11 mi) north of Collingwood, at the foot of Farewell Spit. The spit's airstrip, Triangle Flat Airstrip is just northeast of Pūponga. The settlement of Pūponga is inland; the settlement located on the coast is called Port Pūponga.
Kerry-Jayne Wilson was a New Zealand biologist and lecturer in ecology at Lincoln University in the Faculty of Agriculture and Life Sciences.
Wharariki Beach is a beach on the Tasman Sea, west of Cape Farewell, the northernmost point of the South Island of New Zealand.
Long Island-Kokomohua Marine Reserve is a marine reserve, in the Marlborough Region of New Zealand's South Island. It covers an area of 619 hectares at the entrance to the Queen Charlotte Sound in the Marlborough Sounds. It was the first marine reserve established on the South Island.
Ailsa Diane McGilvary is a New Zealand bird conservationist, and photographer.
Thomas Edward Howard is a New Zealand conservationist.
Puketahā is a proposed wildlife sanctuary to be established in a water catchment reserve in Wainuiomata, New Zealand.
Nate Wilbourne is a New Zealand environmentalist, activist, speaker, and photographer. He has worked for environmental organisations, working on both regional and national levels. Wilbourne is recognised for his contribution to his local community as a conservationist.
