Life in 2030: People-power key to saving Kiwi

Ordinary people, give yourselves a pat on the back.

By 2030 you will be able to claim much of the credit for having saved several rare native species - all part of a trend for taking conservation work back from the Government.

Former Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment Morgan Williams said the trend for ordinary New Zealanders to take conservation into their own hands would be credited in 20 years' time with having played a major role in saving kiwi on the mainland.

Other native ecosystems that government departments had struggled to protect had benefited from more than 50 intense local pest-control and wildlife-rescue operations - including Maungatautari mainland island in the Waikato, Wellington's Karori sanctuary and Tiritiri Matangi Island near Auckland - he said, and the numbers would continue to grow during the next two decades.

He said dedicated volunteers teaming up with local authorities and working outside of the conservation estate would be remembered as a winning formula for achieving results that governments on the three-year electoral cycle could not.

"It's almost as though New Zealanders are voting with their hearts and their physical effort and their money, for example to keep kiwi on the mainland for their grandchildren," said Dr Williams.

By 2030 Dr Williams believes community-driven projects will be deemed more successful at having saved certain key native species than some government-driven projects. "That is not to downplay what DoC has achieved, for example with the black robins," he said.