On the southeastern side of Wellington, New Zealand, lies Miramar Peninsula. This part of the capital city has seen an increase of native bird by 51% - quite an encouraging statistic. One of the birds include the piwakawaka, a species that has seen a 550% rise. Other birds include the grey warbler and tūī, with a combined increase of 324% altogether.
In addition to a rise in native birds, the country’s endangered kakapo population has also risen dramatically in the last year, increasing by 25% to 252 birds. This is a dramatic increase from just 20 years ago, when there were just 86 kakapo’s left.
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This increase is thanks to the The Kakapo Recovery Program that was created in 1995, with an aim to help increase Kakapo population numbers. Those involved in the program are determined to continue the good work, and are remaining focused as to not ‘take their eye off the ball’.
Alongside seeing an increase in native birds, the city of Wellington is also aiming to be predator free by 2050. So far, the project has worked with around 3000 individual homeowners and businesses, using traps and bait stations.