Conservation and 'kaitiakitanga'

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###Welcome to lesson 3 of this unit!

In the last lesson we looked at the unique evolutionary pressures that led to biodiversity in Aotearoa New Zealand's flora and fauna unlike anywhere else on earth — a land without mammals.

Aotearoa New Zealand was one of the last landmasses on earth to be found by humans. What they discovered was a world unlike anything they'd seen before.

In this lesson, we will explore what happened to that biodiversity when mammals arrived, both humans and the other animals they brought with them.

The Māori term *kaitiaki* means 'guardian'. *Kaitiakitanga* is the principle of 'guardianship', and refers to a collective responsibility to protect the environment that sustains us all.

In this lesson we will also explore kaitiakitanga — the fight to protect our native species today and into the future as kaitiaki, with passion, ambition, and creativity.

####Do you feel a responsibility to protect the land you live on? How do you be a kaitiaki, a guardian, for it?

####Share your thoughts below.

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##Sitting ducks

Many of the species that make New Zealand so unique are the last vestiges of once global lineages that were wiped out everywhere else by the rise of mammals. New Zealand gave their evolution a chance to continue on our isolated islands for millions of years. They evolved without any of the pressures of mammal predators or competition. A biological marvel, but one that left them hopelessly vulnerable when mammals (accompanied by humans) eventually found their way here.

Think back to our stinky, nocturnal, flightless kākāpō. Flawlessly adapted to evade hawks with their camouflage strategy of freezing at the first sign of a threat. Now imagine bringing a cat or stoat into that equation – nocturnal ground hunters with an exceptional sense of smell and hearing. Both kākāpō and sadly their nests, proved entirely defenceless.

This scenario played out with almost all of our bird, reptile, and amphibious species as well as our tiny bats. Cats, stoats, and rats have taken most of these marvellous species to the brink of extinction, as have humans – almost as soon as they arrived on Aotearoa's shores.

##The first mammals - rats, dogs and humans

Māori voyagers arrived to Aotearoa New Zealand from Polynesia around 1280 on large waka hourua (double-hulled voyaging canoes). With them came stowaways, most notably the [kiore](https://teara.govt.nz/en/kiore-pacific-rats?source=inline) (pacific rat). These rats were an [important food source for many Māori](https://collections.tepapa.govt.nz/topic/1442), were traded, and were generally enmeshed in the lifestyles they brought with them to Aotearoa.

Unfortunately, with the arrival of this little rat came the extinction of many small native birds, frogs, and large insects. Their nocturnal habits, keen sense of smell and ability to climb meant they had access to a huge population of small native creatures with absolutely no natural defences or instincts against their predation.

At the same time as dozens of small species were falling prey to the kiore, the human arrivals also left their mark. All of the Moa species are thought to have been hunted to extinction for food and skins within only a couple hundred years of Polynesian settlement, along with many other large flightless birds.

Despite only bringing with them two species of mammal, the kiore and kurī (polynesian dogs), humans’ arrival in Aotearoa heralded the [extinction of at least 32 species of bird](https://collections.tepapa.govt.nz/topic/2849) due to predation, hunting, adornment, and deforestation.

##Western Settlement

Western settlement began in earnest from around 1790 onwards, bringing with it a new wave of challenges for our native birds, insects, fish and amphibians. Hundreds of new species were introduced (including stoats, cats, possums, and two new species of rats which effectively replaced the kiore), large swathes of forests were felled, and many native species were targeted to satisfy a lucrative British trade in specimens as curios, collections, and fashions from this foreign new colony.

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The feather muff below comes from the skin of a little spotted kiwi. Once the most common kiwi, hunting, habitat loss, and predation have led to it's extinction on the mainland. It survives now only on predator-free islands and sanctuaries.

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##Bejewelled beaks

The [huia](https://predatorfreenz.org/stories/worlds-most-expensive-feather-symbolises-huias-fate/) was one key example of this trade that fed into its extinction. After a sharp decline in the 1860s and 1880s, Māori chiefs of the region declared a rāhui (ban) on killing the birds in the Tararua ranges. They gained full legislative conservation protection under the Wild Birds Protection Act in 1892, but by then their feathers and beaks had become lucrative fashion items in Britain.

Huia feathers had long been deeply prized among Māori, but after a feather was gifted to the Duke of York in 1901 on a visit to New Zealand, it sparked a fad in Britain for huia beaks and feathers which were used in items such as the Huia beak brooch pictured.

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Huia had beaks that were [uniquely different between the sexes](https://blog.tepapa.govt.nz/2021/12/07/why-did-male-and-female-huia-have-different-beaks/) as they were thought to hunt as a team, with the females beak being notably long, fine, and curved for plucking grubs from holes in trees. The males' shorter, more typical beak was used to hunt other prey or to help her to access these holes. The true extent of this behaviour will now never be known as the harvesting of them for fashion, collections and game drove their capture, and they were considered officially extinct by 1907.

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####Further reading:

[Te Papa blog about the boom of New Zealand bird feathers and parts as fashion items and materials in upper class 19th/20th century England](https://blog.tepapa.govt.nz/2021/07/08/feathermania-fashion-to-die-for/).

[Te Papa’s exhibition on how human arrivals changed the flora and fauna of Aotearoa New Zealand, *Blood, Earth, Fire*](https://www.tepapa.govt.nz/visit/exhibitions/blood-earth-fire)

###Use the comments area to share ideas and thoughts with other learners. Responding is optional, but discussing your ideas can help you learn.

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##Fight for survival

It is no surprise, given the unique and precious nature of animal evolution in New Zealand, and the shocking speed and breadth of its destruction in the face of human arrival, that conservation is important to New Zealanders today. Though action came too late for birds such as the Moa, Laughing owl, Haast’s eagle or Huia, conservation in New Zealand has come a long way, and important gains have been made. But still today we fight a very real battle, with 80% of native bird species in decline, and several iconic species still on a knife edge between survival and extinction.

##Kaitiakitanga and kiwi

The protection of native species is one that resonates strongly in Māori culture under the concept of kaitiakitanga (guardianship). This concept is so important it is enmeshed even in the Te Tiriti o Waitangi, the founding document of New Zealand, and its specific relation to species recovery work has been reiterated in later treaty settlements between the Crown and iwi Māori (Māori tribes).

Kiwi birds in particular offer a good example of that guardianship. Kiwi have always had a strong spiritual significance to Māori, their downy feathers are prized, and kahu kiwi (kiwi feather cloaks) have traditionally been presented to, or woven for, people of high rank.
Because they are considered such a taonga (treasure), Māori have a huge role in kiwi conservation, with iwi led initiatives managing huge amounts of kiwi conservation land, alongside community groups and the dedicated public land protected by the Department of Conservation. Predator control is the golden ticket, and several areas where this has been successful are seeing steady rises in kiwi numbers.

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##Predator-free 2050

Pest control remains the single largest threat to these birds, and all our other threatened species. Though some wild habitats are supported, the majority of the successes in growing endangered bird, reptile and amphibian populations comes down to the use of predator-free offshore islands, extensive trapping of stoats and rats, and fenced predator-proof sanctuaries.

In 2016 the New Zealand government announced an ambitious goal - Predator-free 2050. As New Zealand’s Department of Conservation website puts it,

“We’ve been trying to control pests for decades using traps, bait stations and aerial poisoning, but this has only ever been about temporary control over limited areas – a way of buying our native species breathing space. It has simply held the line – just – against the predators. PF 2050 means to push that line all the way back, to free our wildlife from the plague of stoats, rats, and possums once and for all. As such, it’s a step change from piecemeal control to coordinated, progressive nationwide eradication.”

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The goal of Predator-free 2050 is simple: to eradicate the invasive animals that have decimated so many of New Zealand’s natives. As you can imagine though, getting there is far from simple. It is a bold and ambitious plan, and requires the input of a huge number of stakeholders; iwi Māori and hapū (sub-tribes) and family groups, charities, local government, government agencies, philanthropists, conservation organisations, Crown institutes, community groups, sanctuaries, businesses, and everyday kiwis.

The approach is multifaceted but includes the steady expansion of mainland sanctuaries, extensive trapping (both in the bush, and throughout urban backyards in cities), and the use of aerial drops of a poison that is selectively toxic to invasive mammals, but far less so to birds - an approach that would not work anywhere but New Zealand, where there aren’t native mammals to consider.

##Is it possible?

That a predator-free mainland is even considered possible is thanks to the success over decades of many such smaller experiments, including the complete eradication of pests on a relatively large subantarctic island in 2001, and on more than a hundred other sanctuary islands off the coast of New Zealand, where tuatara, kākāpō, and kiwi now reside in peace. Similarly, we have had success on the mainland in ‘pseudo island’ tracts of land ringed by elaborate predator free fences, like the Zealandia Ecosanctuary, a thriving valley of protected natives in the heart of Wellington - New Zealand's bustling urban capital.

If this can be achieved, we can look forward to a 2050 and beyond that rings with the birdsong of the native taonga that have, until now, been driven to its deepest, wildest corners, or to their fenced off sanctuaries and islands. A New Zealand that recalls its origins as the wild, alien, land of birds - Zealandia.

###Further reading:

Te Papa has many fascinating blogs on extinct native birds

Why New Zealand needs Predator control

RNZ Documentary series: Fight for the Wild

###Is there anything you're unsure of or would like to know more about? Your fellow learners might be able to help! Ask a question in the comments below. Help others by reading and responding to their questions if you can.

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##Goofy, stinky parrot

The kākāpō, our goofy, stinky parrot (immortalised in this [amusing viral clip from the BBC](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9T1vfsHYiKY)), used to be so prevalent that one European explorer in 1899 described shaking them out of trees like apples, up to 6 to a bush. As you might expect from that description (as well as other mammalian predation), their numbers plummeted quickly, and they were once down to a population of only 51 individuals.

An intensive breeding programme, [innovative technology](https://edition.cnn.com/2019/12/26/world/kakapo-conservation-scn-c2e-intl-hnk/index.html), and a concentrated effort to move the birds to predator-free offshore island has slowly grown their population. These birds are at such risk that [every single individual is named](https://handwiki.org/wiki/Biology:List_of_kakapo) and monitored for its whole life.

Their entire genealogies are known, and breeding is helped along at every step of the way (with as little disruption to their natural habits as possible). The intimacy of a programme like this brings home just how important these efforts are. There is no bird on earth like the kākāpō, the world heaviest - and only flightless - parrot.

Watch this series of short videos from Auckland Zoo to see these gentle kākāpo (Māori for ‘parrot of the night’) in the wild, and see just how intensive our on-the-ground care for them must be as their population continues to recover. Brilliantly, since these videos were filmed, their numbers have leapt up another hundred to 248 in February 2023, with 2022 being their second best breeding year on record, increasing the population by a whopping 25%.

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###Further resources:

[Meet some of the stars of the kākāpō population.](https://www.doc.govt.nz/nature/native-animals/birds/birds-a-z/kakapo/key-kakapo/)

[Watch this video from Auckland Zoo to see the 24-hour intensity of monitoring and supporting a kākāpo breeding season (which only happens every 2-3 years)](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WqmLSazmmVI&ab_channel=AucklandZoo)

[Watch this video from Auckland Zoo to see how the Kākāpo Recovery team dealt with a massive kākāpo health crisis in 2019](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O92AyYql5dE&ab_channel=AucklandZoo)

Learn more about conservation and get up close and personal with some feathered oddballs with [Andrew Digby, Science Advisor for Kākāpō Recovery, on Twitter](https://twitter.com/takapodigs)

###In the comments below, write a short summary of what you learned during this step. If another learner writes a similar summary, reply to their comment adding one more thing.

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This concept of kaitiakitanga (guardianship) is not one that only resonates with Māori or dedicated conservationists. It is a sense of obligation and responsibility that is shared by many New Zealanders.

As [100% New Zealand](https://www.newzealand.com/nz/feature/new-zealand-people/) puts it, “New Zealanders share a set of values that arise from Māori cultural influences, early pioneering spirit, and a love of sports and the outdoors…[f]or the same reason that many visitors come to New Zealand, Kiwis have developed a passion for the outdoors and delight in activities that make the most of the spectacular landscape.“ Many New Zealanders will express a strong sense of connection to the whenua (land), and part of that is a sense of just how precious and vulnerable it is.

Te Papa Tongarewa as a museum holds these values as core. The museums role as kaitiaki (guardians) extends beyond the mahi (work) of caring for the taonga (treasures) within its walls, and to taking a leading role in learning about, educating on, and protecting New Zealand’s biodiversity. There is a team of Natural History researchers at the museum seeking to untangle some mysteries and challenges facing conservation in New Zealand

###In this step, click through to view some of the [projects Te Papa’s Natural History team are working on](https://www.tepapa.govt.nz/learn/research/natural-history-research/natural-history-research-what-we-do).

###Choose one that resonates with you to read, then share a few lines about it in the comments for your fellow learners. Also like another learners comment that you find interesting.

####Further Reading

[Te Papa stories about community-led conservation efforts around the country.](https://www.tepapa.govt.nz/discover-collections/read-watch-play/science-and-nature/community-stories-taking-action-for-nature)

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Congratulations! You’ve made it to the end of the unit!

We’ve traced Aotearoa New Zealand's geological and environmental history from 85 million years ago, through the arrival of humans in the 19th century, and to the present day and looking forwards. It's an interesting story, and one that is important to understand as the whenua (land) and te taiao (the environment) around us is something that matters a great deal to most New Zealanders, and feeds into a shared sense of culture, heritage, and responsibility.

It is important to acknowledge that we have only learned about a fraction of New Zealand’s natural wonders in this unit. We have focused on land animals, but New Zealand’s plant, insect, and sea animal’s stories are just as unique, and have faced many of the same threats.

In the next unit, we will learn about the history of humans in New Zealand; beginning with the indigenous Māori and their culture, to the arrival of Western settlement and the clashes it brought, to how this has shaped the Aotearoa New Zealand of today.

Together these units will give you a nuanced understanding about Aotearoa New Zealand’s culture, people, and natural history. We hope you have enjoyed learning a little about Aotearoa New Zealand so far. Ngā mihi nui – thank you so much for learning with [Te Papa Tongarewa](https://www.tepapa.govt.nz/)!

###Reflect on what you’ve learned in the comments. What have you most enjoyed learning about in this unit? What was most surprising to you or made you think? Respond to someone else's comment, or make your own!