Friends of Mana Island

About

We are a New Zealand registered charity that supports the Department of Conservation in restoring Mana Island with project funding and volunteer labour.

Story

The Friends of Mana Island Incorporated (FOMI) was established in 1998 as a not for profit Society and registered as a Charity (CC27290) in 2008.

The primary focus since 1987 has been the planting of trees, a 20 year programme aimed at restoring the vegetation on the island prior to 1800. This programme has seen some 500,000 trees and shrubs planted to date, all of which are indigenous to the Wellington Conservancy. Infill species planting continues.

One of the objectives of restoring the habitat is to provide a sustainable environment for a number of endangered species, primarily from within the Conservancy. A significant exception was the transfer of takahe in 1987 which are endangered in Southland, and are thriving on the island. The reforestation has been confined to the valley systems and slopes, leaving sufficient grassland area to support the takahe. Another exception are captive bred Shore Plover, ranked as nationally critical, released since 2007 in an attempt toprovide a self sustaining population.

Because the island is rodent and predator free it provides an ideal environment for the Cook Strait Giant Weta, and a number of endangered lizards and birds. The bird releases to date include the North Island Robin, Diving Petrel, Fluttering Shearwater, Brown Teal, Fairy Prion, Yellow Crowned Kakariki, Bellbird, Whitehead and Rowi.

The Friends of Mana Island invite you to participate in the potentially high profile projects by way of donation of materials or sponsorship.

You can also visit our YouTube channel - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCjVhOyqRDA_WSaIgcTGtWLw