Landowners Uniting To Bring Kiwi Back To Their Communities (With Matu Booth)

Written By Callum Armstrong

  • Landscape-scale conservation projects are an important part of Aotearoa New Zealand’s biodiversity future.

    They connect the many localised community efforts, passionate landowners and patches of remnant forest to achieve much wider-reaching conservation outcomes.

    When we unite these smaller, seperate activities into catchment-wide, inclusive initiatives, the possibilities are endless…

    Enter: The Forest Bridge Trust (TFBT).

    The vision for TFBT started in 2013 when founders Kevin and Gill Adshead reintroduced kiwi to their family farm in Glorit, rural Rodney (north of Auckland). 

    They quickly realised that for these flightless birds to thrive, they would require a massive 10,000-hectare predator-controlled habitat. 

    This was no small feat, but Kevin and Gill had an even grander vision.

    They dreamed of the west coast kiwis on their farm eventually being able to reconnect with their counterparts in Tāwharanui Regional Park on the east coast.

    To make this happen, they would need to protect at least 54,000 hectares of land to create interconnected forest corridors.

    Most of this land is privately owned by farmers, mana whenua and lifestyle blocks, which requires a different approach to doing conservation on public land.

  • Here are some of the key topics we discussed:

    • The evolution of TFBT from an ambitious dream into a team of 26 people with immense community support.

    • The phenomenally positive impact that 5 years of Jobs For Nature funding via Save The Kiwi had on accelerating their vision.

    • How kiwi are such a great flagship species to inspire action from local communities and landowners, and how this can lead to gains for many other species and habitats.

    • Why it’s so important to meet people on their level and appeal to their priorities and interests rather than ‘telling’ them what they need to do.

    • The importance of focusing on biodiversity gains to inspire action rather than only talking about the predators we’re killing.

    • Why we need a landscape scale conservation focus, and how this helps existing local community efforts.

    • How conservation brings the community together.

    • Why lasting conservation success needs to start with igniting curiosity in people.

    • And much more…

  • Matu Booth is the Operations Manager for The Forest Bridge Trust, where his team supports landowners and communities to protect an ambitious target of 54,000 hectares of land for kiwi to thrive. Since the beginning of his conservation career in 2000, Matu has also worked with the Zealandia Wildlife Sanctuary and managed the Nga Manu Nature Reserve. 

    He has been involved in the translocation of many native birds, tuatara and frogs, and has run education and engagement programmes for a wide range of stakeholders. As Matu’s career has progressed, he has gained a growing appreciation for the importance of encouraging curiosity to get more people passionate about conservation. He is part of a team who believe that sustaining these large-scale restoration initiatives is as much a social change movement as it is a conservation project.

    🔗Learn more:

  • The People Helping Nature podcast is brought to you by Conservation Amplified, a registered New Zealand charity.

    We are on a mission to help make conservation mainstream by amplifying the awesome stuff people are doing to help nature all around Aotearoa New Zealand.

    Because when people are aware, connected to the ecosystems around them and care enough to take positive action, only then will we see lasting change.

    Listen in and follow us to start or deepen your journey.

Callum Armstrong
Previous

Could Fenced Megasanctuaries End Extinction In NZ’s Forests? (With Jim Lynch)
Next

Hunter-Led Conservation Saving Species From Local Extinction (With Sam The Trap Man)