Zealandia Te Māra a Tāne has released a captive population of rare pepeketua/Hamilton’s frogs into the wild at the ecosanctuary. This marks a major milestone for the not-for-profit and for the conservation of the species in Aotearoa New Zealand.

The Conservation team have been carrying out their biannual Five-Minute Bird Counts (5MBC) recently, in which they count all birds seen or heard within 200 meters of various stations around the valley over a five-minute period.

The 2024 collection of toitoi has now happened! A small team joined a group of Taranaki Whānui ki te Ūpoko o te Ika whānau on April 20th  to collect toitoi from Kohangapiripiri at Parangarahu Lakes. These ika/fish are now in quarantine at Zealandia for around four weeks to ensure they are nice and healthy before we release them into Roto Māhanga.

This year we will carry out the second of three planned reintroductions of the freshwater fish species toitoi/common bully to Zealandia’s waters. 

"Little is known about Aotearoa New Zealand’s freshwater sponges. To date, only one species has been studied, yet there is a high likelihood that many other exist without us knowing. For my master’s project, I am investigating the diversity of species within New Zealand."

Dive into the world of freshwater sponges with Ella, a passionate master's student from the University of Otago, New Zealand. 

We have all heard it—spending time in nature can improve your health.  

Western science is finally catching up with what Māori and many other knowledge systems have always known. People are part of nature, and being separated from it affects our health. 

Zealandia researchers have had leading roles in new discoveries about how nature improves our health.  

Here are five ways through which reconnecting with nature can improve your wellbeing...

Conservation is complex work that rarely comes with a neatly packaged ‘How-To’ guide. This month alone we celebrated the arrival of a new pair of takahē to Zealandia while also trying to unpack a ‘whodunnit’ of epic proportions beneath the surface of our waters.

An eagle-eyed Zealandia volunteer spotted a pied shag making light work of a rather large pinky coloured fish in Roto Kawau, the lower reservoir.

Aotearoa is known for having a large diversity of manu/birds; however, it is also the land of the mokomoko/lizards. At Zealandia Te Māra a Tāne, at there are two species of geckos and another three possibly present. Learn a bit more about the gecko species found in the sanctuary in this blog. 

Read the latest report by Zealandia Centre for People and Nature researchers, Dr Julie Whitburn and Dr Danielle Shanahan about the social-ecological approach of Predator Free Wellington. 

New Zealand’s only fully parasitic plant has been successfully germinated at the Lions Ōtari Native Plant Conservation Laboratory in Wellington. The milestone germination was of rare seeds gifted from Ngāti Rereahu in the first translocation to involve all six Greater Wellington iwi.