Chatham Islands, New Zealand

The threatened plants discussion covered work done on some 22 species on the Chatham Islands and lead by local botanist Amanda Baird. A number of species were found to be in an improving situation and in a recent review of threat classifications two species were moved from "nationally endangered" to "recovering". The improvements in status were largely a result of protection from browsing by livestock, achieved through covenant agreements with private landowners and through replanting into protected habitats. Browsing by stock and pigs continues to be a major problem for some species and ecosystems, along with the risk of weed invasion.

Weeds like Gunnera (Chilean rhubarb), Chilean flame creeper and broom were recognised as being a considerable threat and the excellent work being done by Naomi Goomes and others to tackle these problem weeds was acknowledged.

Bridget Gibb had a chance to show off the spectacular results of dune restoration on the northern coast while the team discussed options for extending the work to other beaches. The restoration has the dual aims of providing additional habitat for threatened Chatham Island plants and suitable nest sites for the endangered Chatham Island oystercatcher.

The planting of the 100,000th akeake on Mangere Island was a trigger for the review of the islands' Restoration Plan. Written in 1999, the plan provides guidelines on what species should be returned to which areas and those areas that should be kept open for the benefit of rare plants such as coxella and Cook's scurvy grass. The planting of akeake is near completion and the focus will soon move to gap filling and the diversification of the plantings through planting additional species like mahoe, hoho matipo and ngaio.  It is hoped that the new forest will be mature enough to support a black robin population in around 10 years. In the meantime the islands 41 robins are confined to Robin Bush on the east side of the island.

The Bird Recovery Group meetings coincided with a Chatham Island Conservation Board meeting and the Board took the opportunity to attend parts of the meeting. Of particular interest was progress with species translocations. The Taiko Trust's translocation of tui to (the first in NZ) to the Awatotara has thus far been remarkably successful and it is hoped that the birds will not only survive the winter but start to breed in the spring. The translocation of snipe to Caravan Bush on Pitt Island has been less obviously successful, however the secretive nature of snipe may mean that the birds are still present and it is hoped a trained dog can be used to detect them this summer. Also in Caravan Bush, 12 pairs of Chatham petrel are now breeding, the fruit of translocations from Rangatira between 2002 and 2005. Another 44 Chatham petrel chicks from Rangatira were translocated to the predator-fenced area at Sweetwater on Chatham Island this year. It is hoped that the first of the chicks will return to Sweetwater in around 2012.

The number of black robins on Rangatira and Mangere remains at around 150 adult birds and without additional habitat to expand into the population may remain static for some time. The completion of research work by Canterbury and Lincoln Universities later in the year is likely to see black robins a major focus of the meeting next year.