Recovery Program

To return pāteke to a viable level we, as a community, need to bring about full recovery of the species and become involved in the recovery process.

There are four main approaches to recover pāteke nationally:

• predator control
• habitat restoration
• captive breeding and release of birds to form new safe populations
• raising public awareness to the threats and management opportunities that exist in assisting the species to recover.

The long-term recovery goal is that pāteke are not threatened and are an icon of instream and wetland health, and of conservation-friendly farming practices. 

Current work by DOC on pāteke includes:

• securing pāteke at key sites on Great Barrier Island and Northland
• establishing a new large population of pāteke in Moehau Kiwi Sanctuary and the Clinton/Arthur valley in Fiordland, using captive bred birds
• supporting landowners and landcare groups to establish populations at other sites including Cape Kidnappers, Tawharanui, and Tutukaka
• habitat restoration, maintaining pasture levels at suitably short lengths and fencing livestock out of nesting areas, providing zones of riparian vegetation along streams and ponds.