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Date posted: 15-Feb-2018

Our 2018 concert will feature an afternoon of light classics and jazz courtesy of the Auckland Ph..

Date posted: 05-Feb-2018

For the Social on 19 March the speaker will be Ben Goodwin of Auckland Zoo, who will talk about t..

Rat caught and now takahe released from pens

Date posted: 28-Jan-2018

Thankfully DOC staff Andre de Graaf and Polly Hall and their assistants have trapped the rat whic..

Your Christmas Shopping for a Song

Date posted: 04-Dec-2017

Aka - The Grand Christmas Shopping Expedition to Tiritiri Matangi Island Shop Dreading..

2018 Photo Comp opens for entries

Date posted: 27-Nov-2017

The 2018 Photo Competition is now open for entries. Click here (/2018-photo-competition-tiritiri-mat..

New reports on ruru nesting and Island conservation

Date posted: 02-Oct-2017

Two new reports have been added to the website. The first gives details of a summer students..

Date posted: 27-Sep-2017

Our latest calendar, beautifully illustrated with images taken on the Island, is now available fo..

Guided walks for photographers

Date posted: 21-Jun-2017

For a wonderful day of wildlife photography please join us on Tiritiri Matangi Island for a Ph..

Ferry discounts for Supporters

Date posted: 18-May-2017

Tiritiri Matangi Island, the perfect winter's day trip. The birds are at their best, warm up w..

Date posted: 04-Apr-2017

In 1993 and 1995, sixteen little spotted kiwi were released on Tiritiri Matangi Island. The ma..

Island sanctuaries help to ensure the survival of many rare and endangered plant and animal species. They are especially valuable because they are easier to keep free of predators than mainland islands.

Tiritiri Matangi was gazetted as an open Scientific Reserve in 1980. The island was then under the control of the Hauraki Gulf Maritime Park Board and the Lands and Survey Dept.

A proposal was put to the Hauraki Gulf Maritime Board by a number of interested people including the University of Auckland, planners within the Lands and Survey Dept. and various birding groups.

The idea was to re-vegetate Tiritiri Matangi with plants grown on the island from seed sourced from the island and to release rare and endangered species of birds on the island so that visitors could see them in their natural habitat. There were a number of reasons for this proposal. By establishing an open sanctuary as opposed to a closed sanctuary like Little Barrier, it would take the pressure of Little Barrier by visitors wanting to go there to see birds. As Tiritiri was easily accessible from Auckland by ferry larger numbers of people could visit. The island could be used to educate visitors on the ways to establish new forest, give volunteers an opportunity to participate in conservation programmes. By building an extensive network of tracks and asking visitors to keep to them it was in fact the reverse to seeing birds in a zoo or in an aviary situation, the visitors were in the aviary and the birds were allowed free run of the island to breed and interact with each other.

Photography by Kathryn Jones © (whitehead)

2018 Concert coming up soon