After decades on the back foot, native biodiversity is returning to Tāmaki Makaurau. The efforts of Urban Ark volunteer groups across the central isthmus, and individuals doing the right thing on their own patch, is starting to tip the balance as we move towards a Pest Free Auckland.
But we’re starting from a low base. Nationwide, around 80% of our native birds and almost 90% of our native lizards are threatened with extinction. Here in Auckland, there are few (and very small) remnants of native forest left, birds are mostly introduced, weeds spread from backyards to reserves and geckos and skinks are mostly seen hanging out of the mouths of cats.
By weeding pest plants, trapping mammalian pests and nurturing native plants we hope to lure native species back. Fortunately, there are places nearby where the work of past generations of conservationists has ensured a future for our native bird species. Many Hauraki Gulf islands are predator-free and are close enough to Auckland for birds to spill over onto the mainland. To the west, in the Waitākere Range, Ark in the Park is another biodiversity hotspot. Unfortunately, many native birds will only fly 2–3km between habitats, so we need to make sure there are suitable stopping places throughout our region.
At Urban Ark – Manawa Taiao we love our patch of Tāmaki Makaurau, its awa, its maunga and its ngahere, as well as all the paved-over bits in between. Almost 200 years of blind urban development has given the taiao /environment a bit of a beating. But with increasingly open eyes we are looking forward to a landscape where fragments of nature are joined up, connected by ecological corridors that give our native species a fighting chance.