Project implementation

Mana Island was gazetted as a scientific reserve in 1988, and has had two resident Department of Conservation (DOC) staff since 1987. The revegetation programme began in 1987, using seeds and cuttings sourced from the island or from identified forest remnants within 8 km of the island.

Waikoko Wetlands 1978

Most seeds were germinated at a specialist native plant nursery, but returned to the island for pricking out and growing on in the island's nursery for 1-2 years before planting.

Although supervised (and partly done) by DOC staff, there has been huge volunteer involvement in seed collection, nursery work and planting, with most of the effort coming from members of the Royal Forest & Bird Protection Society and (since its formation in 1999) the Friends of Mana Island Society.

Forest & Bird members were also closely involved in planning and implementing the mouse eradication programme completed in 1989-90, which at the time was the largest successful rodent eradication programme in the world.

Waikoko wetlands 1998

Ensuring that the island remains rodent-free is a priority task for DOC staff, and was the major reason why the island's wharf was removed in 1993. Strict quarantine rules are followed for visitors to the island. A network of rodent bait stations is checked monthly to detect any bait consumption, and to replace bait as required; and 130 rodent tracking tunnels are set for 3 consecutive nights every 3 months. All rodent measures follow protocols in DOC's Island Biosecurity Plan: Wellington Conservancy.

Weed infestations are searched for annually based on a 100 x 100 metre grid, with all infestations GPSed to allow follow-up checks after initial control. Species translocation proposals follow DOC's Standard Operating Procedure for Translocation of New Zealand's indigenous terrestrial flora and fauna.

Waikoko Wetlands 2008

Progress to date

1986 - Last farm stock (dairy bulls) removed
1987 - Tree planting initiated; takahe introduced
1988 - Mana Island gazetted as a scientific reserve
1989-90 - Mice eradicated, freeing the island of introduced mammals
1993 - Goldstripe geckos rediscovered on Mana Island; first seabird attraction sound system installed
1995-96 - North Island robins re-introduced from Kapiti Island
1996 - Cook Strait giant weta and Wellington tree weta translocated from Mana Island to Matiu/Somes Island; brown skinks discovered on Mana Island
1997 - First diving petrel chick translocation; concrete gannet decoys installed; 250,000th tree planted
1998 - Spotted skinks, Wellington green geckos and Duvaucel's geckos released; Waikoko wetland restored
1999 - Mana Island ecological restoration plan published; Friends of Mana Island Society formed; diving petrel chick translocations completed; first breeding by diving petrels
2001 - Captive-reared brown teal released on Waikoko wetland
2002 - First fairy prion chick translocation
2004 -Speckled skinks, yellow-crowned parakeets and flax weevils released; fairy prion chick translocations completed; initiation of inter-planting of canopy tree species; second diving petrel colony discovered
2005 - First breeding by yellow-crowned parakeets and fairy prions
2006 - First fluttering shearwater chick translocation; first release of Wellington speargrass weevils
2007 - First release of shore plover (captive-reared); first breeding by shore plovers
2008 - Fluttering shearwater chick translocations completed; 500,000th tree planted
2010 - Bellbird and whitehead released; first fluttering shearwater breeding

DOC staff member in nursery

Since 1986 there have been ongoing programmes of weed control (main species targeted: boxthorn, boneseed, Senecio glastifolius, kikuyu grass) and attempts to establish or bolster nationally or locally threatened plant populations, including:

• Cook's scurvy grass
• Large-leaved milk tree
• Euphorbia glauca
• Pimelea pseudolyallii
• Muehlenbeckia astonii
• Rubus squarrosus,
• Fuchsia perscandens,
• Matagouri
• The grass Trisetum antarcticum

Flax weevil

In addition to being the largest successful rodent eradication at the time (1989-90), and having volunteers and contractors plant over 500,000 trees, Mana Island is the site of the world's most complex seabird translocation project. This has involved translocations of 704 downy nestlings of three species of burrow-nesting petrels over 11 years, and their daily hand-feeding to fledging by teams of volunteers (11,116 pureed sardine or krill meals delivered via syringe and crop tube). The first two species have returned to breed and have small but growing populations.

Mana Island is also the focus of a complex reptile restoration programme, with six resident species (two nationally threatened), four species re-introduced, and three more planned. Eight bird species (3 nationally endangered), two threatened weevil species and 23 threatened plant species have been introduced or re-introduced.

back to top