Wellington’s ecosanctuary Zealandia Te Māra a Tāne has been named the top tourism operation in Aotearoa New Zealand as winner of the prestigious Air New Zealand Supreme Tourism Award.  

The awards, presented by Tourism Industry Aotearoa, showcase and celebrate the very best of New Zealand tourism’s individual and business successes.  

As well as taking out the top award, Zealandia also won the category of the Airbnb Tourism Excellence Award (Small-Medium Business).  

Tangoio Marae representatives from Napier visited Wellington recently to learn restoration skills from Te Papa and Pouhere Taonga/Heritage New Zealand experts.

Cyclone Gabrielle earlier in the year caused severe damage to their marae which included various prized art works.

The group visited the sanctuary and were gifted one head of kiekie to contribute to the materials needed for their restoration work.  

Our “fur-babies” are important members of our families, but they can also impact our local environments. 

That's why Gini, our Senior Communications Advisor who knows a thing or two about responsible cat ownership (she even wrote her thesis on it!), is here to help. She's got some great tips on how you can keep both your pets and native wildlife safe and happy!  

Wellington City Council are in the formal consultation phase for their Animal Bylaw, Dog Policy, and Domestic Animal Policy. Your input is highly valued, and they encourage everyone, whether you own an animal or not, to give feedback. They have designed this consultation to help you provide feedback on the topics and animals that interest you the most.

We have submitted on this and would like you encourage you to submit as an individual if you wish. 

Zealandia’s iconic fence is designed to keep mammalian predators out of the sanctuary but is being compromised by items on the outside of the fence being left leaning against it.

Want to get involved in backyard trapping but you’re a bit unsure on what it involves and have no idea how to set up a trap? Our Marketing Manager Sam felt exactly the same way until she recently contacted her local Predator Free group and was delivered a rat trap.

Sam shares her experience in joining a community group and setting up a trap for the first time at home.

During Te Wiki Tiaki ao Tūroa/Conservation Week our Learning Team were out and about visiting schools around the region involved in our Nature at Your Place programme, a free programme offered to Wellington schools and kura, deciles 1-6.

Zealandia member and wildlife photographer Holly Neill has a bit of a passion for wildlife in her backyard. So much so, she's built her own lizard garden so she can interact with them at home!

Read about how she created her little lizard haven, Mokomoko Manor, and how you can start one at home too.

At Zealandia we aim to inspire change in how people live with nature in cities globally. Our research collaborations seek to discover how we can design urban developments and landscapes to embrace, not exclude nature. This approach will improve outcomes for nature, and people.

Aotearoa New Zealand's native ika/fish are quiet and cryptic, and their struggles often goes unnoticed. In New Zealand we have over 50 species of native freshwater fish and over 70% of them are threatened or at risk. Some key reasons for this are pollution, loss of habitat or the challenges these fish face simply to move between habitats.

This blog explores some of those issues and what we can do to help out our freshwater friends.