Kiwi project given boost to funding

Forest Lifeforce Restoration Trust Chairman, Simon Hall, examines a kiwi egg retrieved during a night-time foray into the forest at Maungataniwha in inland Hawke's Bay.

The Maungataniwha Kiwi Project has been given $20,000 by Kiwis for Kiwis to help boost the population in Hawke's Bay.

The project, run by the Forest Lifeforce Restoration Trust, will use the money to catch and monitor more male birds so the eggs can be sent for incubation.

The chicks from these eggs would then be released back into the Maungataniwha Native Forest and other areas in inland Hawke's Bay once they could protect themselves.

Forest Lifeforce Restoration Trust forestry manager, Pete Shaw said: "We are immensely grateful to Kiwis for Kiwis for this funding. It is a vital part of our drive to turn the current two per cent a year decline in kiwi numbers into a two per cent recovery."

Michelle Impey of Kiwis for Kiwi, an independent charity that supports community-led kiwi conservation projects, said the Maungataniwha Kiwi Project was a great investment for them.

"They have a great track record of success and consistently contribute in good numbers to Operation Nest Egg, our national egg collection and incubation programme."

Efforts to boost the number of kiwis were already showing signs of success, which Mr Shaw said was partly because of the poisoning of rats at about the same time their food ran out.