Save the Kiwi’s work revolves around, well, saving the kiwi. It’s in the name, after all.
However, the work to protect kiwi and make habitat safer goes far beyond this taonga species.
1. Predator control protects other species
Implementing predator control to protect kiwi triggers a domino effect: once you get a taste for it and you start to see results, you want more.
Trapping to protect kiwi focuses on mustelid control: removing stoats, ferrets and weasels from the landscape. This trapping works to protect other native ground-dwellers too, like penguins, geckos, skinks, wētā and critically endangered species like the Archey’s and Hochstetter’s frogs.
Mustelid trapping goes hand in hand with other trapping practices. Many projects that start with mustelid control expand their trapping regimes to include rats and possums. Combined, these trapping measures remove more pests and predators from the ngahere, which is an excellent thing for both flora and fauna.
In addition to fewer deaths of taonga species, projects that carry out predator control report birdsong returning to canopies that were once silent. When rats and hedgehogs are removed, more invertebrates like wētā and native snails are identified. When possums are removed, foliage becomes lusher. When deer and pigs are removed, tree trunks and the understory for the ngahere have the chance to regenerate.
A healthy understory with plenty of leaf litter retains moisture, which allows kiwi and the invertebrates they feed on to survive. Without this, the land is more susceptible to drought and dry conditions, making it harder for kiwi to penetrate the soil. This domino effect has the power to totally transform a landscape.
2. Training & upskilling kaimahi at place
Many parts of Aotearoa are geographically isolated. This means that employment opportunities can be few and far between, resulting in an exodus of young people in particular to urban areas in search of work. As a result, these small communities become even smaller.
Some areas where kiwi conservation work does or could happen are geographically isolated. To monitor kiwi and create safe spaces for the return of this taonga species, we need people on the ground to do the mahi.
Funded by Jobs for Nature, Save the Kiwi has been operating a kiwi training programme for the last four years, focusing on upskilling people at place and empowering them with the skills they need to protect kiwi on their own whenua.
These skills include monitoring and handling kiwi, using acoustic monitoring devices and telemetry gear, attaching transmitters to kiwi, and performing health checks. We also guide and advise groups that gift or receive kiwi during transfers
This training gives participants a selection of skills to become a confident, well-rounded conservation worker which, combined with other skills, strengthens their future employment opportunities.
3. Community engagement
Working on a common goal like returning kiwi to a community has the unique ability to bring people together. It’s a big dream that people wholeheartedly believe in, but which can only be achieved if the whole community gets onboard.
Whangārei Heads is a prime example of this. The area is home to a dense population of wild kiwi – and people. Local kiwi project Backyard Kiwi has successfully united the community who are very engaged in predator control and dog management practices.
There are also some wonderful stories of people who didn’t know their neighbours or people in their communities until they started working alongside each other in the name of kiwi. For example, The Forest Bridge Trust, north of Auckland, upped the ante on their work in 2020 when they became recipients of Jobs for Nature funding via Save the Kiwi. Since then, their community engagement coordinators have done a stellar job at raising awareness about kiwi that live (and could live) in the area and getting residents excited about protecting native species.
4. Tourism opportunities
Many visitors to Aotearoa dream of seeing a kiwi in the wild and will build their itineraries around this. Therefore, the work to protect kiwi has a direct economic benefit on local communities too.
For example, Rakiura/Stewart Island is home to several nature tours, many of which advertise the opportunity to see a kiwi in the wild – in the daytime if you’re lucky. Sanctuary Mountain Maungatautari is home to many native species, including Western brown kiwi. Zealandia offers night tours around the sanctuary where visitors could cross paths with a kiwi pukupuku/little spotted kiwi, while visitors to Kapiti Island or Auckland’s Rotoroa Island can stay overnight and enjoy some ‘kiwi spotting’ before they go to bed. Some of New Zealand’s Great Walks also pass through prime kiwi territory.
Recently, the Omataroa kiwi conservation group, near Whakatāne, expanded their mahi to include a tourism product offering: Omataroa Eco Tours. Not only have they created jobs in a low-socio economic part of New Zealand, but they have also built a new industry in the area with many local economic benefits.
These and similar tourism ventures give locals and visitors to New Zealand the opportunity to catch a glimpse of this taonga species while contributing to our national GDP.
5. Corporate responsibility & environmental opportunity
Organisations that are involved in kiwi conservation and other environmental initiatives help to instil a sense of pride among their employees and reinforce positive values and may help with attracting or retaining staff.
For example, Gallagher Insurance New Zealand is the naming sponsor of the Gallagher Kiwi Burrow, Save the Kiwi’s purpose-built kiwi hatching and incubation facility in Wairakei, near Taupō. Gallagher is also the principal sponsor of the annual Kiwi Art Trail. The sense of pride that their staff has about being directly involved in restoring kiwi populations is commented on regularly.
During the 2024 kiwi transfer season, representatives from several sponsors visited Sanctuary Mountain Maungatautari to participate in kiwi health checks, including Petdirect and PKF. Most of these people had never seen a kiwi in the wild before, so this was a real bucket list moment.
Some sponsors including Royal Wolf have participated in several tree planting days too. These days are excellent opportunities for employees (and in some cases, their clients) to actively engage in the support their employer contributes to kiwi conservation.
Making the most of every conservation dollar
This kiwi is New Zealand’s adopted national icon, our namesake species, and a taonga for many hapū and iwi.
However, with scarce conservation dollars, everyone working in this field is challenged to make every dollar count. An investment in kiwi conservation is about more than just kiwi. The multiplier effect extends to other plants and wildlife in the same environment, and more broadly to community engagement, our local and national economies, and our national identify on the international stage.