Puketahā (wildlife sanctuary)

Puketahā is a proposed wildlife sanctuary to be established in a water catchment reserve in Wainuiomata, New Zealand.

The proposed sanctuary would involve constructing a 28 kilometres (17 mi) predator-proof fence, enclosing an area of 3,313 hectares (8,190 acres). The forecast cost is NZ$42 million. A study commissioned by Wellington Regional Council and conducted by Jim Lynch, the founder of Zealandia, reported in 2022 that establishing the sanctuary was "technically and practically feasible".^[1]

The site of the proposed sanctuary is the Wainuiomata water catchment area containing virgin forest that is rare in New Zealand. It would be 15 times as large as the Zealandia sanctuary. Native trees inside the proposed sanctuary include tawa, hīnau, rātā, mataī, miro, and rimu. Of these, rimu is particularly abundant, covering 85% of the sanctuary. The large number of rimu could make it feasible to translocate critically endangered kākāpō birds to the sanctuary, because rimu is important to their breeding success.^[2] Other threatened birds such as rowi kiwi and hihi could also be translocated to the sanctuary.^[3][4]

In January 2024, the Wellington Regional Council approached central government, seeking funding for initial stages of the project including detailed design, resource consents and development of a full business case and budget.^[5]