Our winter newsletter - a message from the Chair

Our Autum newsletter - a very dry summer!

There is a full restoration programme this autumn and winter which is published below for your diary. If you are interested in being part of these projects, for island and Wairoa Stream plantings contact Rod Brown at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.; for Tangatapu wetlands Sandra Scowen at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. and for Pipiroa planting Vicki Froude at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Join us for our AGM:

6:30pm - Thursday 22nd November
at the Copthorne Hotel and Resort Bay of Islands
Professor Dave Towns on Seabirds, Scales and Seaweed

Recent work by the Project Island Song monitoring team has given us an insight into what the reintroduced Duvaucel's gecko population has been up to, and how they might be faring in their new home.

Early this month Jo Sim and her species conservation dog Rua spent five gruelling days surveying the rugged coastlines of Ipipiri in search of burrow-nesting seabirds. The forests of these islands would have once been abundant with burrows housing a myriad of seabird species, but due to the arrival of introduced mammals and changes in land-use, the seabird population has been much reduced.

Project Island Song is wrapped to welcome Ria Bright on board as our new education facilitator. Ria joined the team just before the start of the Floating Classrooms season, and has had a blast going out on all 10 trips this year.

We would like to thank the Joyce Fisher Charitable Trust for their support, which will enable us to continue to teach and engage young people in conservation. We can't wait to start another season of floating classrooms, a programme where children experience native wildlife first-hand and can contribute personally to the wildlife sanctuary.

To learn more about the Joyce Fisher Charitable Trust, follow the link here to visit their website.

What better way to welcome a newbie than by coercing them into wearing a furry full-body kiwi suit complete with leggings, on a hot summers day?

Maddy joined us in March just in time for Explore's Easter Family Fun Day at Otehei Bay. Though it was a hot ferry ride, it was a fun day, and a great way to start her new role.

Planters needed in May and June

Sunday 20th May- Urupukapuka Island
Planting 1400 plants in old stock dam and stream valley

Sunday 10th June- Urupukapuka Island
Infill planting 300 plants at Urupukapuka and Squid Bay

Register for the plantings by emailing us at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.