Brian Rudman: Congratulations due as DoC gets act together

Eighteen months ago, I fulminated against the Department of Conservation for backsliding over eradicating pests from Rangitoto and Motutapu Islands. DoC director-general Al Morrison suggested I calm down, that the job would be done, not that year, but in 2010 when the grazing leases on Motutapu ran out and DoC wouldn't have to pay compensation.

Not totally reassured, I said I'd apologise if my fears proved groundless. Ten days ago, the helicopters started bombing the Hauraki Gulf islands with rat bait, beginning a four-month extermination programme that will spread 170 tonnes of poison across the 3800ha reserve. So I not only apologise, but congratulate DoC for proceeding a year earlier than Mr Morrison signalled.

With later trapping programmes, the aim is to free the islands of rats, mice, rabbits, stoats, feral cats and hedgehogs in preparation for creating a wonderful sanctuary for native fauna and flora at Auckland's front door.

Hopefully, Rangitoto will also become the focal point, until now missing, of the Hauraki Gulf Marine Park. Created nine years ago by then Conservation Minister Sandra Lee as our first "national park of the sea", the park is yet to have a formal opening. Maybe with DoC now committed to a "flagship" conservation project in the midst of it, the country's first marine "national park" will get the recognition it deserves.

Rangitoto is Auckland's very own Bali Ha'i, a brooding, mystical volcano rising out of the sea, tantalisingly close to urban Auckland, which casts a spell on visitors and locals alike. The idea of it being a nature reserve, overflowing with kakariki, kaka, kereru, kiwi, fantails, weta, tuatara and other endangered species has, until now, been but a dream. By winter's end, the dream will become a distinct possibility. Who knows, it could become a day trip for Rugby World Cup visitors in 2011. That will be a bit soon to guarantee snapshots with happy parrots, but visitors would be able to plant a kauri or a flax bush and climb a nearly live volcano.

In his latest monthly report, Auckland Regional Council chairman Mike Lee proudly quotes from his election brochure of December 1991 in which he proposed: "The ARC could work with the Department of Conservation on a programme to eradicate all exotic pests including rats, cats and stoats. The result would be a combined Rangitoto/Motutapu 4000ha wildlife sanctuary. The people of Auckland and our visitors would have the opportunity to see rare and endangered native bird species thriving in a natural environment only minutes from downtown Auckland.

"Such an open sanctuary with tourist and educational facilities would provide a tremendous boost to our regional tourist industry, create jobs and enhance the environment and quality of life."

The idea was echoed in a March 1994 paper by Auckland University conservationists Craig Miller, John Craig and Neil Mitchell called "Ark 2020: A conservation vision for Rangitoto and Motutapu Islands" which advocated restoring the islands as an oasis of pre-human New Zealand biota.

Acknowledging there might be reluctance on DoC's part to attempt this "extremely ambitious" project, the authors emphasised the advantages. "One of the most powerful advocacy tools available to conservation managers is the promotion of recreation on conservation lands."

They said increasing numbers of people wanted to experience conservation first hand.

"On Rangitoto and Motutapu ... members of the public could combine recreation with doing something that gives them a sense of achieving something of worth for New Zealand. By capitalising on this ethic, the Department of Conservation can educate the public and enhance their conservation awareness ..."

That was the year the Motutapu Restoration Trust launched a programme that has seen community volunteers plant more than 400,000 trees on the island.

In June 2006, the Labour Government declared its intention to tackle the remaining pests on the two islands. Possums and wallabies had been eradicated a decade before, now it was to be the turn of the other introduced four-legged mammals.

With all the talk of so-called "legacy" structures on Queens Wharf, it's wonderful to see a true legacy project finally coming to fruition. Soon there will be a stepping-stone path of Gulf islands teaming with native birds.

They will start returning to the Auckland mainland, repopulating fenced sanctuaries such as the one planned for the inner Waitemata between Kauri Pt and the Chelsea Sugar Refinery, and reinforcing bird populations in the Hunua and Waitakere Ranges. A legacy future Aucklanders will thank us for.