Kiwi expert: National icon can have permanent place in our future

The Queens Service Medal. Photo / George Novak

A renowned pioneer of kiwi conservation says he is more confident than ever that our national icon can be saved.

Veteran ecologist Dr John McLennan, awarded a Queen's Service Medal for his decades of kiwi research and conservation, said gains made over the past 10 years had replaced his doubt with sureness that wild kiwi have a permanent place in our country's future.

To mark Save Kiwi Month, the Herald today launches a two-part investigation into what must be done and spent to preserve and rebuild populations of the endangered species, which number around 70,000.

Dr McLennan said his optimism comes on the back of well-advanced efforts by community groups and the Department of Conservation, and he believed it was possible that the annual 2 per cent population decline rate could be reversed to 2 per cent growth within the next few years.

It was heartening to see there were now more willing volunteers to save kiwi than there were projects to sustain them, he said.

"There has been a growth of community initiatives that have embraced kiwi conservation in a way that they really haven't with any other species to the same extent."

While the proximity of people to kiwi had made it possible for many North Island residents to start their own projects and make meaningful gains, this wasn't so easy in the South Island's more remote and mountainous habitats.

But Dr McLennan added that advances in pest control had changed the game, making it possible for projects to routinely cover areas as vast as 15,000ha.

With current momentum, New Zealand had an "amazing opportunity" to save its star bird, Dr McLennan said.