Image description: Maori rock carving at Mine Bay on Lake Taupo. Image by holgerheinze0 / Pixabay

Oceanographic reports three of New Zealand’s most ecologically-rich islands have joined an ambitious, globe-spanning project to restore and rewild 40 globally significant island-ocean ecosystems by 2030 through a series of initiatives to remove invasive species and safeguard their native wildlife.

The ambitious project is being spearheaded by the international conservation initiative, Island-Ocean Connection Challenge (IOCC), led by Island Conservation, Re:wild, and UC San Diego’s Scripps Institution of Oceanography.

With the addition of these three projects – spanning New Zealand’s Maukahuka (Auckland) Island, Rakiura (Stewart) Island, and the Chatham Islands – the total number of committed island-ocean ecosystems falling within the mission has been brought to twenty.

The New Zealand project marks an historically significant moment and a collaborative effort bringing together the New Zealand Department of Conservation, Māori and Moriori Indigenous communities, and local organisations on a mission to remove invasive species – including cats, mice, and wild pigs – from the three islands to safeguard the region’s native wildlife and bolster climate resilience across these vital island ecosystems.