Help bring pateke to Motutapu

Once widespread across the mainland of New Zealand, the range and abundance of pateke (brown teal) has been seriously declining for 120 years, largely due to habitat loss and predation by introduced predators. It is now considered endangered and the rarest species of waterfowl on the New Zealand mainland.

Motutapu Island is a large (1550 ha) predator-free island close to downtown Auckland and the site of a major ecological restoration initiative by the Motutapu Restoration Trust. The Island also includes about 100ha of wetlands, so can provide excellent habitat for a population of pateke. Since the Island was declared pest-free in 2011, the Trust has reintroduced a number of rare and threatened species including takahe, saddleback, North Island brown kiwi, and shore plover. It is time to continue this process of enriching the Island by bringing the pateke back. The successful establishment of a self-sustaining population of pateke on Motutapu would also provide a potential source population for expanding the range of pateke to a number of other inner Hauraki Gulf Islands.

We would be delighted if you can help us achieve this worthy goal with your donation and further the restoration and biodiversity enrichment of Motutapu Island and the inner Hauraki Gulf.