The Waipū Wildlife Refuge is celebrating 50 years of protecting threatened birds tomorrow. Photo / File
The Waipū Wildlife Refuge is celebrating 50 years of protecting threatened birds with a memorial seat being unveiled in the town tomorrow.
The Waipū Wildlife Refuge was proclaimed on February 25, 1969, 11 years after Wildlife Refuge protection was given to the lower reaches of Ruakākā River in 1958. Mangawhai
Spit was given Wildlife Refuge status in 1982.
The Ruakākā, Waipū and Mangawhai wildlife refuges were established to preserve habitat for shorebirds that had suffered from urban encroachment and destructive recreational activities. They are located on river mouths straddled by spits and extensive dune systems that provide nesting sites and significant estuaries that provide feeding grounds.
The refuges are in close proximity to each other and are interdependent in maintaining the wellbeing of the birds and provide recruitment to other sites when numbers are down, and to provide food when food is scarce at the resident roost.
Extensions were made to the Waipū Wildlife Refuge in 1999 under the Reserves Act 1977.
