KEY POINTS:
Melodic bellbirds, bright green kakariki and cheeky kaka could be popping into city slickers' backyards if a mainland bird sanctuary succeeds north of Auckland.
The native birds are expected to thrive after the Auckland Regional Council fences a 555ha wildlife sanctuary on the Whangaparaoa Peninsula at the end of this year.
Although there are other "mainland island" sanctuaries for wildlife, this will be the closest to Auckland - 40 minutes by car or a bus trip from the central city.
ARC open sanctuary co-ordinator Matt Maitland said it would be the most popular sanctuary yet, following successful "mainland islands" in Wellington, Dunedin, Maungatautari and Tawharanui.
The plan is to fence off Shakespear Regional Park at the tip of the peninsula and then poison predators in the park.
It is hoped bellbirds and kakariki will move along the peninsula to suburban areas, while land-lubbers like kiwi and takahe will have a safe home close to Auckland.
Each year, about 20,000 people make the ferry trip from Auckland to Tiritiri Matangi, a thriving island bird sanctuary 4km off the peninsula. But although kakariki and bellbirds make the journey the other way to the park, weasels and rats make it hard for them to breed.
Mr Maitland said the bird populations would explode once the predators were gone. By the end of the first summer, they would be flying down the peninsula towards Auckland. Once pests had been killed, flightless birds such as kiwi would be given a helping hand to the park by conservation workers.
Whangaparaoa locals are passionate about the sanctuary, but two barriers remain before the fence-building can start.
Getting resource consent to drop poison to clear predators from inside the fence could be difficult because of nearby houses.
The ARC will pay a third of the $600,000 needed to build the fence, and volunteers at the Shakespear Open Sanctuary Society have undertaken to raise the rest.
A year since it began, the society's fence post appeal has raised $35,000. It has applied for a $200,000 grant, leaving at least a further $165,000 to be raised.
Society chairman Allan Parker said volunteers would raise money by writing to businesses, applying for grants and asking visitors to help pay for $50 fence posts.
Once the fence is built, the ARC will pay for pest removal and maintenance.
Tawharanui Regional Park, north of Auckland, has reintroduced bellbirds, brown kiwi, robins and whiteheads since a 2.5km fence was built in 2004.
CREATING A BIRD SANCTUARY
WHAT HAS ALREADY HAPPENED:
* Volunteers are killing pests such as stoats, rats, weasels and possums.
* Thousands of native trees have been planted and work has begun restoring the sanctuary's wetlands.
*Members of the public have given $35,000 towards a new fence. Of the total $600,000 cost, the ARC will pay one-third and volunteers must raise the rest. The Shakespear Open Sanctuary Society has applied for $200,000 in charity grants, leaving at least $165,000 to be raised from the public.
WHAT HAPPENS NEXT?
* June 2009: The ARC hopes to have resource consents to build a fence and drop poison pellets.
* Summer 2009/2010: Builders erect a 1.6km predator-proof fence across the tip of the Whangaparaoa Peninsula.
* July 2010: ARC eradicates pests inside the fenced area by dropping poison pellets from a helicopter. The fenced part of the park will then be closed for a few months while the poison does its work.
* Conservation workers wait and watch for any remaining predators to move or breed so officials can spot them and kill them.
* December 2010: Declare the sanctuary predator free.
* Summer 2010/2011: Native birds and plants start to flourish. Birds such as kakariki and bellbirds that have flown from Tiritiri Matangi island sanctuary breed and spread down the Whangaparaoa Peninsula. Other native birds fly over from the island and establish populations.
* Birds such as whiteheads (popokotea) and the North Island kiwi that cannot make the trip on their own will be reintroduced by conservation workers.
To make a donation: www.sossi.org.nz
