The power behind the kākāpō this breeding season.
Flying into Whenua Hou, the approach feels cinematic. The helicopter tracks low along the coastline, skimming past a wide, empty beach before landing on a small clearing cut into dense bush. There are no roads, no power lines, and no easy way in or out.
And yet, deep within this remote predator-free island located west of Stewart Island, an important partnership with Meridian Energy and the kākāpō is underway.
Because every egg, every chick, and every carefully managed nest depends on something easy to overlook: a steady, uninterrupted supply of power.
The Kākāpō Recovery Programme, led by the Department of Conservation (DOC) together with Ngāi Tahu, has spent decades working to bring the critically endangered parrot back from the brink. With a total population of just 235, each breeding season carries weight – and thanks to intensive efforts, this season has been the biggest breeding season to date.
Meridian Energy has been the national partner of the programme since 2016, and provides more than just funding – the company also supplies infrastructure, engineering support and staff volunteering alongside DOC teams.
Meridian Chief Executive Mike Roan says the partnership reflects a long-term commitment to conservation.
“Meridian has been privileged to stand with DOC and Ngāi Tahu in supporting the programme. It’s wonderful to see that, together, our efforts are paying off and the kākāpō population is now the strongest it’s been in decades.”
Unlike mainland New Zealand, the islands where kākāpō can now be found are completely off-grid. There is no network to connect to and no fallback if something fails. Instead, power is generated on-site mainly through solar panels and a battery storage.
At the centre of that system on Whenua Hou is what Meridian’s Head of Maintenance Services, Kathryn Lindsay, describes as “the nursery”. It is a temperature-controlled portacom where every egg on the island is incubated and, when needed, chicks are cared for by rangers.
“If you’ve taken an egg off a mum, you can’t let it get cold,” she says. The eggs are incubated to keep them safe from petrel disturbance at the nests; at the peak of the incubation phase there can be 30 to 40 eggs being tracked for progress, so keeping the power humming to this room is crucial to the success of the season.
Maintaining that environment requires consistent, reliable electricity, as well as backup systems to ensure there is no single point of failure. Meridian engineers have worked alongside DOC teams to install and improve these systems over time, from upgrading generators and battery support to improving ventilation and load management across the islands.
DOC Operations Manager for kākāpō, Deidre Vercoe, says that support has been critical to the programme’s success.
“Meridian supports our programme in many practical ways - through financial backing, specialist engineering expertise, infrastructure development, and their people volunteering alongside our team,” she says.
“The power systems on the islands are vital at this time of year to keep power stable for staff and for specialist equipment like our incubators.”
When something goes wrong, there is no quick fix. “We have to get on a helicopter or a plane and go to site and do the physical work,” says Lindsay.
Meridian have engineers available 24/7 for remote support to the rangers. They are also ready to travel to the island for hands on support when needed.
Before the engineers arrive on the island, there are strict biosecurity protocols. Clothing is washed in disinfectant, boots are scrubbed, and tools and gear is inspected to ensure no seeds, insects or predators are introduced.
“It’s quite a rigmarole,” says Lindsay, “but for a real reason. It’s humbling, there are only a small number of birds and being able to help enable that continuation is pretty special.”
The islands are predator-free, a status important not just for the kākāpō but for other native species that share the habitat, including seabirds and three types of penguin.
For those who make the trip, the experience can be striking. “It is so dark at night,” says Lindsay. “And so noisy. It’s not just the kākāpō, but everything else out there.”
Meridian’s involvement is not limited to technical support. Staff from across the organisation volunteer on the islands during breeding season, contributing to tasks ranging from feeding birds to supporting daily operations alongside DOC rangers.
The current breeding season has already delivered moments of quiet success. Earlier this year, a kākāpō named Yasmine became a foster mother, hatching the first chick of the season on Valentine’s Day from an egg laid by another bird, Tīwhiri.
For the first time, the public has been able to follow the breeding season in real time. A live stream from a nest on Whenua Hou has offered a rare glimpse into the lives of the birds, including footage of a kākāpō named Rakiura laying eggs, hatching chicks and even defending her nest from a seabird.
Success, says Lindsay, is simple: “That the breeding season goes smoothly and that we get as many birds as we can.”
Out on these islands, the survival of a species rests on countless small, coordinated efforts - some visible, others behind the scenes.
Together, they are helping to give the kākāpō another chance.
For more information on the season, visit DOC’s Kākāpō Recovery and Meridian’s Kākāpō Recovery Programme | Meridian Energy websites