The Great Kererū Count, Miramar
Karaka Bays, Wellington

The humble kereru is one of New Zealand’s most valuable assets when it comes to our native forests. Long before humans came to this country, kereru have been undertaking the largest plant restoration project the country has ever seen. Kereru are the only bird left in New Zealand that are able to swallow and disperse the seeds from our largest native trees such as tawa, taraire, puriri and matai. Kereru can live for 21+ years and are essential for native bush regeneration. Their disappearance would be a disaster for our native forests.

On this day we will be joining Te Motu Kairangi, Miramar's local restoration group, to help survey this iconic species. We will be stationing small groups of volunteers across the peninsula to record your observations of kereru for one hour (you will either walk to the site or be dropped off by our minivan). After lunch we will be restoring the forest by removing invasive weeds to allow natural regeneration to occur.

We provide: an experienced team leader, all survey equipment, toold, gloves, transport to/from the project if needed.

What to wear/bring: sturdy boots, long sleeves and pants, a hat/beanie, waterproof jacket, lunch and a re-useable water bottle.

Why get involved? Kereru are protected birds and endemic to New Zealand. KererÅ« numbers today are much lower than the flocks reported from 50-100 years ago. Despite this, they do not have formal threatened status. This means that the Great Kereru Count is the only centralised data gathered to monitor the overall national trends of this significant bird. Learn more here https://www.greatkererucount.nz/