Chatham Islands Landscape Restoration Trust

Home
New Zealand
Christchurch
Chatham Islands Landscape Restoration Trust

Restoring nature's gifts to the Chatham Islands. The Chathams are a land apart. Some of those species are only found here.

Our Trust is a group from our community working collaboratively to bring conservation and ecosystem restoration projects to life. Our fertile islands are surrounded by productive seas, 800kms from mainland Aotearoa New Zealand. Isolation and a wild climate led to the evolution of some exceptional plants and wildlife: 25% of Aotearoa’s endangered species call this archipelago home. The Chatham Isla

nds Landscape Restoration Trust is a group of islanders working collaboratively to bring conservation and ecosystem restoration projects to life. We take a big-picture approach towards environmental restoration. We have a long-term focus, which means thinking about what we're doing right now and what we need to do over time to create the future we want. We also think at an ecosystem level, from the sea to the soil to the sky.

23/06/2026

Here's an opportunity for all the young creatives and environmental advocates out there!

🌱 The 2026 international Earth Partner Prize is an open call to generate conversations around the urgent need for ecological justice.

🖼️ It's designed for artists aged 14-30 to ensure the voices of younger generations are heard.

🖌️ Applicants can apply with any medium, including photography, film, performance art, app development, spoken word, music, dance, fashion, new media, and social media.

🏆 Eight finalists will be awarded cash prizes of $10k, $5k or $2k - and 20 creatives will receive honourable mentions.

Know someone who you think should take part? Tag them or share this post!

Head to their website for more details 👉 https://earthpartner.com/earth-partner-prize/

22/06/2026

🚜 For the farmers and landowners out there who just wanna get those pests off their patch...

With a background working with farmers and conservation projects, seasoned predator control experts Cam Speedy and John Bissell share some top tips in this blog by the Predator Free New Zealand Trust:

👉 https://predatorfreenz.org/stories/farmers/golden-tips-for-predator-control-on-farms/

18/06/2026

It's World Albatross Day 🎉 with a 2026 theme of Habitat Restoration and a special focus on our own Chatham Island albatross!

🪨 Chatham Island albatrosses breed in just one place on the planet: a volcanic rock stack known as the Pyramid, or Tcharako in Moriori and Te Tara Koi Koia in Māori. It's privately owned by the Daymond whānau.

🪸 While the Pyramid's isolation and steep sides have helped keep the islet free of predators, it's very exposed to the elements. Extreme weather - both storms and heat waves - is impacting the breeding success of albatrosses.

🐣 The Chatham Island Taiko Trust made an attempt to establish a new colony in a predator fenced sanctuary on Rēkohu Wharekauri, although this appears to have been unsuccessful.

🌱 Predator control, restoration planting, and site protection are a key part of creating safe habitat for albatrosses - along with other seabirds and endangered species. Our Trust is leading efforts to eradicate predators on our two main islands, supported by native plantings.

🌴 Healthy ecosystems also mitigate against the impacts of climate change.

Keen to learn more or see more Chatham alby pics? Head over to our blog 👉 https://www.chathamrestorationtrust.org.nz/resources/blog-and-news/world-albatross-day-2026-chatham-island-albatross/

16/06/2026

🎉 We’re thrilled to be officially certified as the equivalent of a United States public charity!

This will open up new opportunities to partner with more international funding sources and philanthropists - which will allow us to keep working towards rewilding our remote islands, for our unique species and our community 🏝️

Our Equivalent Determinacy status is on file with NGOsource. You can learn more about them here 👉 https://www.ngosource.org/

15/06/2026

It's National Volunteer Week, and we want to send a huge thanks to all the volunteers out there! 💪😎

People have volunteered over 1,000 hours of their time and skills to support our Trust 🤯 That's gone to helping us maintain our traps in the north east, plant natives, carry out ecosystem research, desktop mahi like create maps, and more! We’ve even had offers of volunteer support that we don’t yet have the capacity to take - but we’re hoping to in the future.

Hey vollies, we appreciate you. There’s really no way we’d be where we are right now without you 🌱

And it's not just our volunteers we're grateful for. A number of people gift their time to support the Chatham Islands, and so much of Aotearoa's good mahi is done by people volunteering their time and skills, for nature and for people.

We see you 🫶

New Zealand

11/06/2026

Today we're shining the spotlight into the nocturnal world of the impressive (and rather beautiful) Rangatira spider 🕷️ with a little help from scientist Zita Roithmair. She loves this endemic Chatham spider so much, she's studying it!

💪 Rangatira spiders are the biggest of this genus in Aotearoa. Females with their eggs can weigh up to 5 grams - just one gram less than Aotearoa's smallest bird, the tītitipounamu.

🤎 While their size might put some people off - they're actually quite friendly. (Note the photo of Zita holding a gorgeous female!) Friendliness ends if you're a wētā, though, because...

🏹 They are impressive hunters! They attack fast, springing on their prey rather than using webs to catch it. Wētā are one of their favourite meals.

🤱 They're attentive mothers, carrying their egg sac around for several weeks, then building a nursery web for their bebes to hatch in, and THEN sticking around to protect their spiderlings until they're big enough to leave. Dedication!

Read Zita's blog 👉 https://www.chathamrestorationtrust.org.nz/resources/blog-and-news/species-spotlight-rangatira-spider/

📸 Zita Roithmair holding a female Rangatira spider. Image: Zita Roithmair
📸 Rangatira spiders are BIG.
📸 Female Rangatira spider on bark. Image: Dave Boyle

10/06/2026

Thanks to all those s**g lovers out there who've helped get a trap out by the Chatham Island s**g colony at Okawa Point 🧡😎🖤

Everyone who donated to the Endangered Species Foundation of New Zealand Gift a S**g campaign has helped raise awareness for Aotearoa's endangered species AND protected one of those rare species on th ground. Good on ya🫡

08/06/2026

Kekeno /fur seals might be the only resident seals in the Chatham Islands, but they aren't the only ones who show up 🦭

Elephant seals have been known to show up around Waitangi beach 🏖️ and we also get subantartic fur seals occasionally (the one pictured here was on Hokorereoro / Rangatira Nature Reserve, hanging out with kekeno). Every now and then, we'll also have a leopard seal or sea lion will visit our shores.

04/06/2026

📢 We'll be launching our Restoration Strategy at this year's Chatham Islands Festival of Science 🌴

Over the last year (🌧️the weather over here really impacts when you can get out into the field!) we've had researchers on island, carrying out field work to help build up a picture of the state of different ecosystems right now. Our aim with the Restoration Strategy is to pull that information together as an extra resource to help with planning mahi that involves the environment - whether it's landowners, community, groups, or larger organisations doing that planning.

Here's a small photo dump from some of that field work 🔬

As always, a huge thanks to all of the landowners who gave us access to these special places for collecting data 😎

📸 Puhina / kekeno at the tiny kaarst island, Motuhinahina, in the lagoon. Image Peter de Lange
📸 Inverebrate presence can be a sign of ecosystem health. Noting here the enthusiastic presence of Helophilus aff. hochstetteri. Image: Peter de Lange
📸 Draft eocsystem maps of Rēkohu Wharekauri.
📸 Freshwater research underway with scientists Russell Death and Fiona Death. Image: Milly Farquar
📸 Clipboards mean business.

01/06/2026

🦋🐝🐛🪲 Looking forward to the opening of this exhibition today at the Chatham Islands Museum!

Starring bugs, including some of our unique island invertebrates, it's promising to be a great mix of science and art, with some extra-special pieces from our local schools. Keen! 👍

Address

Christchurch
8942

Telephone

+64225259442

Website

https://www.chathamrestorationtrust.org.nz/

Alerts

Be the first to know and let us send you an email when Chatham Islands Landscape Restoration Trust posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Contact The Organization

Send a message to Chatham Islands Landscape Restoration Trust:

Featured

Mahi Arohanui o Tamariki Aotearoa charitable

Want your organization to be the top-listed Non Profit Organization in Christchurch?