Dialogue: Efforts of volunteers soon to result in kiwi sanctuary

By DANIEL JACKSON

What a good idea.

Only metres from the shores of the Whangarei suburb of Onerahi is an island soon to be New Zealand's newest kiwi sanctuary, thanks to the far-sighted vision of volunteers.

Two of the flightless birds will be released on the 40ha Limestone Island in the Whangarei Harbour on Saturday by the Department of Conservation in the hope the pair will breed.

The restoration of the island, which has the Maori name of Matakohe, to a point where the kiwi could be released has been an 11-year project for the Friends of the Matakohe-Limestone Island Society.

The group hopes the once-barren island will serve as a natural reserve for native life as well an educational tool and bastion of environmental diversity for generations to come.

Since 1990, the group has planted more than 50,000 native trees and conducted extensive campaigns to rid the island of predators, including 350 possums, several cats, stoats and goodness knows how many rats.

They achieved their goal of having the island predator-free about three years ago and have been able to keep it that way, which has prompted the Department of Conservation to relocate the kiwi pair from research areas north of Whangarei.

The group also hopes the island will in future be used as a "kiwi creche" similar to one already established at Moturoa Island, where kiwi chicks, after being hatched in captivity, can be left to grow to a size where they can be safely released on the mainland without too much risk from predators.

Golden Bay Cement came to the party about three years ago with $350,000 worth of sponsorship which has been spread over a five-year period and allows a manager to be employed for the island. Already the work is paying dividends and birds are returning to the island.

Populations of other native birds, which are taking a punishing on the mainland because of predators, are establishing themselves.

The Friends also want to introduce other native species, including kokako, riflemen and saddlebacks, as well as rare species of lizards and even giant weta.

There are plans to plant a further 10,000 trees a year on the island and eventually about one third of the land mass will be dedicated to mature forest.

The island also has its own rich human history which makes it that much more attractive as an educational reserve.

The society will leave about one third of the island in pasture, where visitors will be able to see the remains of an ancient Maori pa site and gardens.

The remaining third of the island has the ruins of one of the first factories in New Zealand.

More than 200 people once lived on the small land mass and worked a cement factory which operated until about 1918 until it moved to nearby Portland because of the lack of a water supply.

The release of the kiwi will not be the first time the island has been used as a sanctuary. When allies of Ngapuhi chief Hone Heke threatened to sack Whangarei in 1845, after the sack of Kororareka (Russell), the European families of the town fled to Limestone Island from where the women and children were shipped to Auckland.

But not all the history on the island is ancient, as on its eastern shore lies the burned-out skeleton of the old Radio Hauraki pirate radio ship Tiri.

A book is being written about the island and there are also plans to restore the concrete factory manager's house to a point where it can be used as an educational centre for visitors.

Ask any tourist and they will tell you New Zealand is not short of nature reserves but the beauty of Limestone Island is its close proximity to town.

Whangarei schoolchildren or people with a spare few minutes on a weekend will be able to leave the confines of their classroom or suburbia and soon be among kiwi, bush and history.

The hard work of the volunteers and organisations which have helped restore its native environment mean the importance of Limestone Island as an educational tool and sanctuary will only grow, like its native trees and wildlife, with time.