Urban Ark – Manawa Taiao supports over two dozen community groups dedicated to improving the native biodiversity of the Tāmaki Makaurau central isthmus.
Many of our groups focus on trapping pest mammals – mainly rats, possums and stoats – in people’s back gardens and local reserves. Other groups concentrate on removing pest weeds, planting native species and advocating for landscape taonga such as our local maunga, our awa and our ngāhere.
Here’s how you can help:
- Join a Group and lend a hand doing backyard trapping, reserve weeding, planting, and stream restoration.
- Help set up a group somewhere where there isn’t a group. Just drop us an [Enable JavaScript to view protected content].
Probably the single most effective way to help native biodiversity is to reduce the number of rats, possums and stoats. There are plenty of ways you can support our vision for making central Tāmaki Makaurau predator-free and come alive with native birds, lizards and invertebrates.
Without predators, our native wildlife has a chance to flourish, but it will always struggle if the bush is smothered by invasive plants. Our Pest plant control pages give advice on what to remove, how to do it, and which groups concentrate on weeding and planting. Pest plants soon fill the vacuum left by weeding unless something else is planted in their place. Planting natives is the way to go using locally sourced seeds where possible.
In Auckland, two-thirds of our habitat is in our back gardens. You can help a lot just by looking after your patch. Visit our Back gardens page to see how you can best manage your patch for our native species.
Our neighbours
Urban Ark – Manawa Taiao works with volunteer groups in our area and collaborates with neighbouring organisations:
- Eastern Bays Songbird Project is doing wonderful work across the eastern bays of Tāmaki Makaurau from Orakei to Glendowie.
- Pest Free Kaipātiki runs a sophisticated operation on the North Shore between Northcote, Beach Haven and Glenfield.
- Whau River Catchment Trust are working towards a pest-free Whau catchment from Green Bay and Blockhouse Bay to Te Atatu.
- Maungakiekie Songbird are encouraging residents around One Tree Hill and Cornwall Park to trap predators and encourage native biodiversity.