Source: NZ Department of Conservation
To imagine how healthy and abundant New Zealand forests could be, we don’t have to travel back in time; we can look to the many predator-free islands across the country for inspiration.
In this story, we journey to Whenua Hou/Codfish Island at the bottom of Te Waipounamu/the South Island to find out why it’s one of the most coveted wildlife sanctuaries in the country and how it is inspiring efforts to protect and restore native species nearby on Rakiura/Stewart Island.
There are 110 predator-free islands in New Zealand, and more than 30 of them lie just offshore from Rakiura. This includes Whenua Hou, which is home to the largest population of the critically endangered kākāpō, along with other extremely rare birds including mohua/yellowhead, kuaka/Whenua Hou diving petrel, mātātā/fernbird and tūtukiwi/snipe.
Although Whenua Hou is off-limits to the public to help protect threatened wildlife, DOC and Ngāi Tahu have been working there for decades, largely to support and study kākāpō and prevent rats from re-invading.
As we are working to eradicate rats, feral cats and possums on Rakiura, we asked two experienced conservationists to describe the eco-system on Whenua Hou and how it compares to Rakiura National Park which is just three kilometres east of the island.
‘We are Whenua Hou, Whenua Hou is us’
Whenua Hou was the first place in the south where European men – mostly sealers – and Ngāi Tahu women lived together. It was also an important place for Ngāi Tahu voyagers who used to stop there on the way to the Tītī Islands to harvest tītī/muttonbirds.
Tāne Davis is one of the descendants of these inhabitants, and as a child, he remembers seeing the island’s mighty tōtara from his father’s boat on the way to the Tītī Islands to catch crayfish.
“I used to wonder what was there… and my mother used to say, ‘Ko mātou ko Whenua Hou, ko Whenua Hou ko mātou’. We are Whenua hou, Whenua hou is us.”
Tāne first stepped foot on Whenua Hou 25 years ago, not long after it became predator free, with DOC and Ngāi Tahu working together to eradicate pacific rats/kiore in 1998 and possums in 1986.
Tāne has since had a vital role in the management of the island as the chair of the Ngāi Tahu Whenua Hou Komiti and the Ngāi Tahu representative for the Kākāpō Recovery Programme.
“You don’t have to look hard to see the changes. Whenua Hou has become a safe haven for taonga species, and the forest has regenerated quite quickly from possum browsing.”
This work has paved the way for kākāpō to potentially have their biggest breeding season on record this year.
It has also helped to create opportunities for Ngāi Tahu descendants to return and re-affirm their whakapapa connections on Whenua Hou. This included the establishment of three pou in 2017 to tell the story of the island’s human history and preserve it for generations to come.
“You can feel the presence of our tīpuna on the island, and we feel a sense of belonging and the responsibility as kaitiaki.”
Tāne has great belief in the vision for Rakiura to become predator-free, and the benefits this will have for all people connected to the island.
“Whenua Hou is like a role model for Rakiura. We’ve got to utilise these achievements on a larger scale.”
An island heaving with wildlife
DOC scientist, Graeme Elliott, has spent most of his life studying New Zealand’s wildlife, including kākāpō on Whenua Hou.
“My first visit was in 1995. We often slept in tents and there was a constant chatter of seabirds, but we also stayed in the hut next to this stunning white sand beach.”
He says when visiting Whenua Hou, nature is no longer a spectacle that you’re searching for, but you’re living amongst it and interacting with it at every moment – it’s naturing at its finest.
“When you go outside the hut, the forest is heaving with birds. There’s a little duck or a kākāpō wandering around, and tītī nesting underneath the deck.
“Without deer and possums, the forest has grown dense and luscious, making it difficult to get around. There are kākā and kererū everywhere, along with big flocks of mohua, brown creeper, kākāriki and riflemen.”
On summer nights, Graeme says you can hear hundreds of thousands of petrels flying over the forest as they come ashore to breed.
“Their colonies on the island are a bit whiffy but their poop acts as an incredible natural fertiliser. Big parts of the island are porous with lots of holes made by burrowing petrels. Most of New Zealand used to be covered in seabird burrows once upon a time.”
Check out the diversity of wildlife in this gallery of images captured by DOC volunteer Archer Tern during a trip to Whenua Hou last year.
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Rakiura could become like a huge version of Whenua Hou
Whenua Hou is a fair comparison to Stewart Island regarding its landscape as they are nearly identical, but just on a smaller scale, Graeme says.
“The type of vegetation is similar as well, with rimu, totara, kahikatea, rātā, and miro. But the bird life is vastly different. Forest birds are so uncommon on Rakiura, and the damage caused by pests and predators is visible all over the place.”
Oban township, which has more bird life than other parts of Rakiura, gives a false impression of what life is like in the forest, he says.
“This is likely because regular trapping has occurred in the area for many years. Oban is also in close vicinity to Ulva Island, which is predator free and hosts a range of native species, some of which have large home ranges and will travel around the township.
“Oban also has a variety of urban food sources for birds like kākā, kererū and tui that are not available elsewhere on the island, such as exotic fruit trees.”
When you get out into Rakiura National Park, Graeme says there’s a shocking absence of sound and forest health is poor in comparison to Whenua Hou.
“We have feral cats eating birds, rats hoarding and eating seeds and eggs, deer eating plants and saplings on the ground, and possums stripping the new shoots and leaves off trees like Southern Rātā which thins out the canopy. It’s so still in places that you can hear a single fly buzzing when the bird noise should be dominant.”
Honouring the legacy of Solstice
Graeme and Tāne have dedicated much of their lives to protecting te taiao – the natural world. They both dream of seeing Rakiura become New Zealand’s largest wildlife sanctuary yet.
“It’s desperately needed for our threatened species, especially for kākāpō, which are nearly at capacity on Whenua Hou, so they can grow their population,” Graeme says.
This was reinforced recently with the passing of Solstice, who was the last kākāpō to be found and rescued on Stewart Island in 1997. She was one of the female founders of the modern population and has 27 descendants.
“Solstice was a matriarch for the species,” Tāne says.
“Her legacy is one of desperate survival and hope for future generations. We can honour her by enabling her mokopuna to return home to Rakiura and fill the forests with their booming calls once again.”
LiveNews: https://nz.mil-osi.com/2026/02/03/whenua-hou-an-inspiration-for-rakiura-wildlife-recovery/