Chatham Islands Landscape Restoration Trust

08/10/2026

Speak of the penguin (or share a photo of their tracks) 🐧

Here's a little penguin, or koratchuauri in Moriori, or kororā in Māori, tucked up in a nesting box with an egg 🥚💙 Little penguins naturally nest in burrows, rocks, or even tree root systems along the coast, but a penguin box in the right spot can offer them a safe and easy option.

Their eggs are incubated for about 33-37 days, with most chicks in the Chathams usually hatching by mid-November.

And seeing as we're sharing egg pics, here are some banded dotterel eggs our Ops Manager spotted the other day 🪺 Banded dotterel nests are shallow scrapes on the ground, and while they're reasonably camoflagued, they're also very vulnerable to introduced predators.

Last year was a bumper year for banded dotterels in the northeast Predator Free Chathams area, so 🤞 for this year!

💙 Thanks to everyone who shared memories about seeing blue penguins on the islands on our last post! We love hearing your stories, and if anyone can do a good impersonation of a little blue we'd also love to hear that 😈

📸 Cheers for the photos, Mike!

05/10/2026

🔎 Tracks spotted in the northeast, checking traplines.

It's good to know we've got some traps out there pulling their weight to protect species like the owner of these tracks.👍

In case you couldn't guess: these belong to a little penguin 🐧 There hasn't been much research done yet on the population of little penguins out in the Chatham Islands, but they're often spotted (or heard. Or smelled...) around the coast.

They usually spend their days out at sea diving for food, and come back into shore around dusk. At this time of year, they're starting to nest.

01/10/2026

We’re stoked with the awareness this year's Bird of the Year crown has raised for karure/ kakaruia/ black robins - and for conservation in the Chathams.

🏆 105,000 people voted in Bird of the Year and learned more about native manu
🌐 Karure popped up in national and international media
🌱 Our Trust has shared more about conservation mahi in the Chatham Islands.

The recovery story of karure put Aotearoa on the international conservation map, but these unique lil birds aren't saved yet.

They need more safe habitat, which means predator control and restoration on a third island in the Chathams 🏝️ Thankfully, there's work going on right now to do just that, and a lot of it is community-led.

As karure's campaign managers, we want to thank the Chathams community (including the awesome kids at Pitt Island School), the photographers who shared their pics, the voters, and of course Forest & Bird for supporting nature and taking part in Bird of the Year 2026 😎

Check out our blog about karure and the campaign 👉 https://www.chathamrestorationtrust.org.nz/resources/blog-and-news/karure-bird-of-the-year-2026/

📸 Black robin on Mangere. Image: Dave Boyle
📸 Memes with photos courtesy of Leon Everett, Enzo M.R. Reyes, and Gemma Green.

29/09/2026

These burgeoning brassicas and rampant rockets, along with some lush Aotearoa natives, are in Ces' gardens on Rēkohu Wharekauri 🪏🌱

Ces is part of the Chatham Islands Community Trapping group, and amongst the most active when it comes to sharing her pest removal successes. She's also probably in the lead when it comes to possums caught.

Like a lot of islanders, protecting home and garden is a big reason behind trapping, but for Ces, backyard performances from a local tūī are maybe the biggest reward 🪶 "The Tūī and native birds in general is my biggest motivator," she says.

👍 Shout out to everyone in our community who's helping remove introduced predators from the islands, whether it's round the house, on your land, or as part of your wider mahi. It all adds up.

📸 Phots from Ces Lanauze - cheers for sharing 😎

27/09/2026

📢 The Big Four category in the Pig Hunting Competition is on again this year - and the comp kicks off in just a couple of days!

Landing one of each of the four pests - possums, rats, mice, hedgehogs - equals one entry to win a return flight from Air Chathams or a new AT220 trap from us 🤯

This category is about encouraging locals of all ages to get involved in restoring nature through pest control.

Last year forty people took part in the Big Four, with lots of keen participation from tamariki (evidenced in the photo). We're stoked to be sponsoring the prizes again alongside Air Chathams, and are looking forward to seeing what you all manage to catch this year! 💪

🎫 Tickets to take part are on sale at the Den now! NKmr & The Den Kitchen

25/09/2026

Join us next month at our AGM to talk about our Trust's mahi and share your ideas for community conservation in the Chatham Islands 🏝️

🕰️ Thursday 15 October, from 5.15pm (that's 4.30pm NZ time)
📍 Venue: Council Chambers and online.

The agenda:

🛠️ Present the annual Impact Report (Jun 2025-Jul 2026), update on our Trust's mahi, kōrero
🍎 Break for kai
🌱 Discuss the Restoration Strategy
🗣️ Continue kōrero.

We'll be making our Impact Report available on our website soon, and can also email copies to anyone who's keen (just ask us at [email protected]).

For the meeting link and a copy of the Impact Report, visit our website 👉 https://www.chathamrestorationtrust.org.nz/resources/blog-and-news/agm-and-impact-report-2026/

24/09/2026

Adding a bit of perspective 🕶️

Predator Free Chathams is protecting unique peatlands, along with a range of other habitats, that sit between a 16km lagoon and the wide open ocean. The next large land mass off the west coast of Rēkohu Wharekauri is Chile 🌊

This is our Ops Manager Mike servicing the bottom trap at Te Awapatiki, where the lagoon and ocean meet.

21/09/2026

20/09/2026

Thank you, Aotearoa! ❤️‍🔥

Karure/ kakaruia/ black robin has been voted in a resounding first place, making an iconic little Chatham Islands manu into Bird of the Year 2026! 👑 Karure are critically threatened, with just 350 birds, and there's lot of mahi to do to make sure their population can continue to grow 🌱

Our Trust is one of the community organisations carrying out conservation mahi that could help the black robin population continue to grow - so if you want to help karure, consider making a donation and spreading the word!

Huge thanks to all of you who voted and supported this campaign in different ways as we bumbled our way through this year, and to Forest & Bird for running BOTY to help raise awareness for manu and nature 👍

17/09/2026

Got a new set of wheels 🛹 and a great new partnership!

Our mates at Fulton Hogan are supporting our mahi by gifting us one of their wagons. If you think that grin on our Programme Manager's face has teen's-first-car vibes, you're pretty much right - this is our Trust's first official vehicle! It's a key and very welcome step as our work starts to ramp up 🛠️

Fulton Hogan has had a presence on the Chathams for several years now, and it's awesome how keen they are to support the Chathams community 🫡 Looking forward to working with ya!