What's On at Zealandia

ZEALANDIA’s world-first predator exclusion fence is now twenty years old. The patent on the fence has now reached its end, and this provides us with the opportunity to share our expertise and accumulated knowledge with others, confident that this approach works. 

ZEALANDIA has today launched a Givealittle campaign to support its crucial conservation work during the COVID-19 response. 

“For almost 25 years, we’ve been working to bring the birds back to Wellington, and we need your help to keep it that way,” says ZEALANDIA’S Chief Executive Paul Atkins. “We rely on supporters and visitors to fund our critical conservation work, and this work does not stop even when we are closed to the public.” 

ZEALANDIA has been hit hard by the COVID-19 lockdown, as the majority of its income comesfrom visitors, including many thousands of international tourists visiting Wellington each summer and autumn. 

My blinkers have been removed.  

Until recently, my love for and commitment to Zealandia has largely been focused inside the fence. Sure, I knew about the halo effect: how kākā are now all over Wellington, how tīeke are nesting in Polhill Gully, how kererū and kākāriki frequent Karori, how tūī are a common sight and sound in our gardens. 

And I had heard of Sanctuary to Sea, with a vague understanding that it was about the Kaiwharawhara Stream. 

Now that my blinkers are off, a whole new perspective has opened up for me. With the Sanctuary to Sea project, Zealandia’s ‘Living with Nature’ kaupapa has embraced an aspirational and transformative focus beyond the fence.