Te Korowai o Waiheke
Te Korowai o Waiheke (Predator-Free Waiheke) is a community-led conservation trust working towards a bold ambition: making Waiheke the world's first predator-free urban island, where native wildlife can thrive, and future generations can enjoy a healthier, flourishing environment.
Working alongside mana whenua, landowners, volunteers, the local community, and conservation organisations, we lead an island-wide effort to protect and restore Waiheke's unique biodiversity. Our work focuses on eradicating introduced predators, particularly stoats, while creating the conditions for native species to recover and flourish. It's an ambitious undertaking that combines science, innovation and thousands of hours of community commitment.
And we're already seeing what is possible. Since our island-wide stoat programme began in 2020, we have removed more than 280 stoats and carried out over 300,000 trap services. At the same time, native bird numbers have increased by almost 100%, with kākā numbers up more than 900%. Kiwis have also been introduced to the island, with successful breeding adding to the growing population. These remarkable results show what sustained, collaborative conservation can achieve.
But the work is far from finished. As predator numbers reach record low levels, the challenge becomes even greater: finding and removing the last remaining stoats before they can threaten the gains we've made. Continued investment in detection technology, specialist expertise and community participation is essential to securing these gains and taking us closer to our vision.
We welcome support from organisations and individuals who share our belief in the importance of protecting Auckland's & Aotearoa's natural heritage.
To find out more about Te Korowai o Waiheke and how you can help, visit our website or get in touch or help us to finish the job by donating.
