Ruahine Kiwi is our best shot at seeing wild kiwi return to our patch - Brent Barrett

Bay of Islands pupil Kowhai Taituha meets her first kiwi. Photo / RNZ

Brent Barrett is an environmental advocate, Green city councillor and scientist. The views expressed here are his own.

OPINION

For the first time, I recently had the pleasure of hearing kiwi in the wild.

It was magnificent, thrilling, and certainly memorable. And quite accessible. It was early autumn, and we were camping beside Omaru Hut on the Matemateāonga Track in Whanganui National Park. It was our first night out, just two hours of easy walking from the car. And on that cold clear night, the distinct and beautifully piercing cry of the kiwi rang out again and again.

Our national icon, an evolutionary quirk, a true survivor. The kiwi is an amazing creature.

Locally, kiwi have long been absent from places close to Palmerston North. In years past, there were all sorts of native birds where there are now people, cars and buildings. No doubt there were many kiwi dens in and around what’s now our bustling city before humans started pushing them out, and almost to extinction.

Fortunately today, thanks to a mammoth conservation effort, kiwi are thriving in many places across the motu, with new territory being added each year. Booming kiwi numbers offer us an opportunity to have wild kiwi near the city for the first time in living memory.

This is where the stalwarts driving the Ruahine Kiwi project come in. Driven by start-up investment from the Department of Conservation, they’re removing predators from the southern Ruahine Range, making it safe for kiwi.

This community-driven project is rapidly evolving. Government investment is winding down, creating opportunities for local funding partners to get in on the action and claim the kudos for returning kiwi to our ranges.

The traplines are in place, and with continued investment and trap checking, kiwi are on track to be back in the southern Ruahine as soon as 2026. That’s very close indeed. But with the Government funding cuts, the only way we’ll see the kiwi return is if locals step up.

The Ruahine Kiwi project is the strongest run our community has ever had at bringing kiwi back into Manawatū. And it deserves strong community support to finish the job.

The success of the Capital Kiwi project shows what can be done to restore nature near cities. In just a few years it has brought kiwi back into Wellington’s hills thanks to a strong volunteer effort, clever project leadership, and generous local donors.

We’re a city and nation built on drive and hard work. The boundless optimism of the generations before us continues to amaze and inspire. Tapping that same verve will ensure kiwi return to our own ranges soon.

With the strong progress made by Ruahine Kiwi over recent years, this is our best shot at seeing wild kiwi return to our local area in our lifetime.

Let’s make it happen.

A closing note. And I do mean closing.

Whether this is the first Home Planet column you’ve seen, or you’re a regular reader, this is the last. The Manawatū Guardian’s owners are refocusing. More news, less opinion. So it’s the journey’s end and farewell from yours truly.

I appreciate the editor and her masters generously enabling this column to appear in the Manawatū Guardian.

Despite some late nights and the occasional bout of writer’s block, I’ve greatly enjoyed the opportunity to voluntarily contribute to local media.

I hope you’ve all enjoyed journeying with Home Planet and been in some way inspired to better protect our natural heritage and environment, to help restore this little patch of our home planet.

It’s the only one we’ve got and it’s precious beyond measure.