Tuatara are expected to thrive on Little Barrier Island again, with the announcement that the Pacific rat kiore is to be eradicated from the important ecological site.
Local iwi Ngati Wai and environmental group Friends of the Earth have removed their previous opposition to the eradication programme, Conservation Minister Chris Cartersays.
The work would be a significant step in the development of the 2817ha island, 90km northwest of Auckland and also known as Hauturu, into one of this country's premier nature reserves.
"It is estimated that there may have been more than 300,000 tuatara on Hauturu once but the arrival of kiore, which eat the eggs and young of the reptile, pushed that population to the brink."
Tuatara were thought to have been extinct on the island until a small number were rediscovered in the 1990s. They had been held in captivity and their numbers lifted to more than 100 by successful breeding, Mr Carter said.
They would be released as soon as the island was declared rat free, about two years after the bait drop planned for July.
Maori would be able to take some kiore and keep them in captivity before the eradication programme started.
Protected in 1895, Little Barrier was a piece of primeval New Zealand, with diverse forest types undisturbed by browsing mammals, Mr Carter said.
It had the largest range of native birds, reptiles and land snails of any island in the country, and was home to the last natural population of stitchbird and giant weta.
Victoria University professor and tuatara expert Charles Daugherty said once the rats were gone insect life would return quickly, and then lizards and tuatara.
- NZPA
Bio-diversity
The island has been protected since 1895.
It has the largest range of native birds, reptiles and land snails of any island in the country.
Home to last natural population of stitchbird and giant weta.
Once thought to be the home to a 300,000-tuatara population.
