Over the past five years, we’ve built a network of bait stations across Karioi to protect our forest birds - and it’s working. Rat and possum numbers in some areas are now below 5%, and each year we’re expanding that protection across the maunga.

Now we need your help to keep it going.

The Rugged Rogaine Series is a fun way to explore the beautiful maunga, experience an adventure sport, practice map reading and navigation, and improve your fitness. Run, jog, or walk.

It can be a fun adventure or a competitive challenge and race!

Local Rangitahi volunteers are making a real dent in pest numbers across the peninsula.

Predator traps might be small and easy to miss along the walkways, but together they’re having a big impact.

Over recent months we’ve confirmed pekapeka-tou-roa (long-tailed bats) on a bunch of properties around the Karioi landscape. These tiny native bats hunt insects at night above streams and sheltering bush and are rarely seen.

Seventeen years ago, we started with just a dozen volunteers. Some gave a few hours. Others, a full day each week, fortnight, or month. Some are still volunteering today!

On Karioi, a simple bright pink triangle is nailed to a tree. It’s small, lightweight, and unremarkable - just a code written in black marker, there to guide volunteers along the track so they don’t get lost. On its own, it doesn’t look like much. But like many of the numbers we work with, it quietly tells a much bigger story.

Somewhere along the way, between scraped knees, salty hair, and the curiosity that never quite left us, we became conservationists. The same is happening today with the next generation of kaitiaki.

When Graeme first set foot on this rugged coastline in 1984, seabirds were still a mystery in many ways. He was young, endlessly curious - a nature kid turned biologist, who’d once sketched garden birds for a school assignment and collected Greg’s jelly bird cards.

Many of us grew up watching “Tom and Jerry” - the endless chase between a determined cat and a cunning mouse. No matter how many clever traps Tom set, Jerry always seemed one step ahead. In real life, it’s not quite as funny.

“Even after those days of arduous work, I couldn’t wait to get back to those beautiful forests and idyllic shores” writes Siddhartha Gurung. And so he did! Sid came back for a week-long internship this spring, and shares his thoughts.

Melanie Carroll’s first volunteer day on Karioi felt more like a gift than a job—peaceful bush, seabird stories, and inspiring company. “It was like forest bathing, with purpose,” she smiled.

Armed with secateurs, sausage rolls, and a stubborn sense of purpose, the Kareao Cutters are carving tracks through the bush - one tangled liana at a time. It’s conservation with grit, laughter, and legs sculpted by Supplejack.

Growing up in Whāingaroa, Lenny Reynolds joined the inaugural Karioi Rangers programme, sparking a lifelong passion for conservation. His journey evolved through hands-on fieldwork, mentoring, and study—shaped profoundly by the Karioi Project’s influence.

For many locals, the idea of bats flitting through their backyards at night seemed far-fetched, but long-tailed bats (pekapeka-tou-roa) have been detected, proving that these secretive, endangered mammals are still clinging on in our region.

This past year, we had the privilege of working alongside an incredible intern whose journey with the Karioi Project has been nothing short of inspiring.

What does Autumn bring into the house? Rats! Now is your chance to beat them at their game - get and set your traps!

We hear from senior seabird ranger, Georgia about the highs, the lows, and the amazing wins of the 2024 seabird breeding season, which is lining up as our most successful one yet.

Anna Whitehead decided to become a ‘Burrow Buddy’ this year. She shares the ups and downs of her experience and what being a Burrow Buddy is all about.

It’s hard to imagine how far along this Karioi restoration journey we’d be without the extraordinary support of the landowners who’ve helped us every step of the way. 

This year, the Karioi Project has stepped up its monitoring efforts, using a variety of innovative techniques to better understand and protect the regenerating biodiversity of Karioi and its surrounding landscape.