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22-596: Orokonui Ecosanctuary , called Te Korowai o Mihiwaka in Māori , is an ecological island wildlife reserve developed by the Otago Natural History Trust in the Orokonui Valley between Waitati and Pūrākaunui , New Zealand, 20 kilometres (12 mi) to the north of central Dunedin . The idea of a sanctuary near Dunedin was first discussed in 1982 by New Zealand cartoonist Burton Silver and

44-670: A few friends. The group made a proposal in July 1983 to convert a Dunedin fertiliser factory into a giant aviary . The proposal was later abandoned but inspired the formation in August 1983 of a charitable trust , the Otago Natural History Trust. Their initial proposal for a sanctuary at Orokonui lapsed and the group disbanded for a while until 1995, when the Karori Wildlife Sanctuary opened in Wellington . This gave

66-640: A number of mostly Dunedin-based businesses and charities as sponsors . The major funders are a local gambling organisation and the Otago Regional Council . In December 2006 work started on building a 9 km (5.6 mi) long specialised pest-exclusion fence , to enclose 307 ha (760 acres) of regenerating forest. The 1.9-metre (6 ft 3 in) high fence is designed to keep out all introduced mammals such as cats , possums , rats , stoats , ferrets and even mice . It uses stainless steel mesh that continues down to form

88-707: A road that is likely to become part of the Southern Scenic Route , with relatively slow-moving traffic that will be able to see the visitor centre and stop to investigate", with road links to Port Chalmers , Waitati , Dunedin and State Highway 1 . The Orokonui Valley was once part of a school, Orakanui College. Later, after closure, the grounds were acquired by the Government as an "inebriates' home." They were subsequently cut-over and grazed, and partially planted in Eucalyptus regnans , one of which

110-428: A skirt at ground level that prevents animals from burrowing under it. On the top is a curved steel hood that prevents climbing animals like cats and possums from climbing over the top. Waterways are protected by screened culverts nicknamed " watergates ", while pedestrian access is by airlock style double gates. In February 2007, a donation of a further 57 ha (140 acres) from an adjacent landowner increased

132-574: Is New Zealand's tallest measured tree, the 82.25 metres (269.8 ft) "Frank Pepers Tree". The former school and rehab property was divided. The agricultural land was vested in Landcorp and the major part of the land was managed as the Orokonui Conservation Area by DOC . Ecological island In artificial ecological islands (also known as mainland islands ): The ultimate goal is to recreate an ecological microcosm of

154-538: Is some evidence that forest health is improving. Other work involves planting of native seedlings raised at a nearby tree nursery and piling up rocks to create habitats for lizards . The trust plans to "bring back to the ecosanctuary native species that would have been there in times past" including kiwi , seabirds , kākāriki , South Island robin , South Island saddleback , kākā , native bats , tuatara and jewelled gecko . In July 2007, four South Island kākā arrived. Initially housed in an aviary, these were

176-445: The absence of mammals, birds became dominant. Evolutionary processes resulted in a unique assemblage of plants and animals, and New Zealand became a land dominated by birds. Without competition from browsing mammals, birds evolved to occupy niches that mammals occupied elsewhere. Threatened by few predators , many birds had no need to fly and many species became flightless. Birds, reptiles , plants, insects , and bats, all evolved in

198-498: The absence of terrestrial mammals, and have little defence against alien species. With human colonisation came many accidental or deliberate introductions of mammals and birds. These wrought havoc with native species and many became extinct, many others were reduced in range and number, with some teetering on extinction. Traditionally pacific rats ( Rattus exulans ), Norway rats ( Rattus norveigucus ), ship rats ( Rattus rattus ) cats, ferrets, stoats, and weasels were all considered to be

220-461: The country as a whole as it was before human arrival. There is usually provision for controlled public access, and scientific study and research. The definition does not include land within a fence erected to: The concept of mainland islands was pioneered in New Zealand and arose mainly from the particular circumstances of that country's history. For millions of years New Zealand was part of

242-583: The first animals to be introduced to the Ecosanctuary. Pūkeko and paradise duck have self-introduced since enclosure and habitat works. Fifteen tuatara were moved from the University of Otago in March 2009, and 34 South Island saddleback were introduced to the sanctuary the following month. The Ecosanctuary is also home to a breeding pair of South Island takahē , Quammen and Paku. The promoters of

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264-491: The idea renewed impetus and a remaining trust member, Ralph Allen revived the proposal. The local Maori Runaka , Kati Huirapa of Puketeraki became supporters of the trust. The Ecosanctuary is in a north-facing valley comprising about 290 hectares (720 acres) of regenerating native forest. The trust gained the use of the 230 hectares (570 acres) Orokonui Conservation Area 20 km (12 mi) north of central Dunedin. The New Zealand Department of Conservation approved

286-486: The main culprits in the decline of native species of New Zealand birds, reptiles and insects. More recent information adds hedgehogs and mice to the list. These species have been introduced for a variety of reasons and some inadvertently. The effect remains the same: they have all contributed to the decline of native animals. Possums and deer did the same for the forest. However, New Zealand also includes many offshore islands, some of which contained species rare or extinct on

308-450: The mainland because introduced pests could not reach them. Increasingly over the last hundred years, New Zealand's Department of Conservation together with many volunteers have developed and perfected world-first methods of clearing some of these islands of all introduced pests, and island restoration , creating safe havens for the reintroduction of at-risk species, thereby saving them from extinction. These islands are also used to expand

330-475: The mainland so that the public could have easier access and learn what New Zealand looked and sounded like before human colonisation. There are excellent projects where alien species numbers are kept down by various methods other than a pest-exclusion fence or the coastline, but these are not generally described as ecological islands. Projects that do meet the criteria, or are aiming to, include: Plantation Too Many Requests If you report this error to

352-453: The planned 7.2 km (4.5 mi) length of fence by 2 km (1.2 mi). The additional land was mainly pine plantation but considered to be of benefit as the trees when felled would give a good habitat for huhu grubs, an important food source for kākā . Earthworks for the fence were finished in May 2007. The fence was completed and the sanctuary officially "closed" on 3 July 2007 in

374-576: The presence of the Waitati Militia . Pest eradication commenced in August 2007 with shooting of goats and 800 possums by ground-based teams. This was immediately followed by the scattering from aircraft of bait poisoned with brodifacoum into the fenced area. The trust's consent application states that when the valley is free of pests, the health of the forest will improve, leading to an increase in seedlings, flowers, seeds, invertebrates and thus increased food supply to birds (p4). There

396-494: The range of rare species so that an ecological disaster on one island would not result in the total extinction of a species. As many species rebound in numbers in the absence of predators the islands act as species reservoirs enabling the periodic removal of some to create breeding colonies on other cleared islands, or on the mainland itself. Following the example of what had been achieved on offshore islands, groups of New Zealanders decided to create artificial ecological islands on

418-456: The sanctuary anticipate 25,000 visitors per year. Following considerable debate they chose a site at the top of the valley system for visitor facilities, for its potential to attract visitors, its access and perceived low costs and "benefits for management of both ecology and visitors". Here they built a NZD 1.9 million visitor and education centre which they label as being a "showpiece of environmentally sustainable design". The chosen site "is on

440-532: The supercontinent Gondwanaland , which included Australia , Africa , and South America , and shared the same flora and fauna . About 70 million years ago New Zealand became separated, earlier than Australia, South America and Antarctica. About five million years later non-avian dinosaurs became globally extinct leaving the way open to mammals to dominate - except in New Zealand where there were no land mammals (only 3 species of bats and seals ). In

462-539: The trust announced that the sanctuary might expand in future onto adjacent public land. A fundraising appeal was launched in November 2005. The trust ran two public fundraising campaigns in 2006-2007: the public were urged to donate their soon-to-be-withdrawn New Zealand 5-cent coins while a "sponsor a fencepost" campaign was run in conjunction with the Otago Daily Times newspaper. The trust also has

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484-610: The trust's use of the land and completed a heads of agreement and the Orokonui site was visited on 27 April 2006 by Chris Carter , the New Zealand Minister of Conservation. The trust purchased and added a further 67 hectares (170 acres) of adjacent land to the Conservation Area. The donation of 57 hectares (140 acres) from an adjacent landowner extended the proposed Ecosanctuary area by 20%. In May 2007,

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