Sanctuaries in Auckland’s regional parks play an important part in providing safe havens for some of New Zealand’s most treasured indigenous species.
Councillor Christine Fletcher says the council is committed to halving the number of species in the Auckland region that are threatened or at risk by 2040.
“Conservation areas on our regional parks provide stepping stones to the Gulf Islands, local forests and Aucklanders’ back yards,” she says.
“Our mainland sanctuaries ensure species like kiwi, kōkako, pāteke, takahē, geckos, bats and Hochstetter’s frogs no longer face the threat of extinction.”
Community partnerships at the Shakespear and Tāwharanui regional park open sanctuaries integrate conservation with recreation and farming in fenced, predator-free environments.
On the other side of Auckland, in the Hunua Ranges, Auckland Council, the Department of Conservation and volunteers manage a 1150-hectare area for the protection of kōkako. And in the Waitākere Ranges, Ark in the Park is a 2200-hectare unfenced and pest-controlled sanctuary, managed in partnership with Forest & Bird and a large group of volunteers.
