Outcomes
The vision of a predator-free South Westland is a beautiful one.
In this future, a rowi sighting is a regular feature of an evening stroll. Towering rātā, tōtara and rimu will bloom and breathe deeply with the seasons, locking away carbon for decades. People will travel from all around the world to hear our forests full of birdsong. Our communities will be sustained and nourished by our vibrant natural world.
Regeneration of entire species and ecosystems takes time, much longer than it does to eliminate introduced predators. It will take years, and careful measurement, to determine the results of predator elimination, as early trends are hard to differentiate from natural fluctuations and coincidences.
However, we are delighted to be seeing early indications of how nature is responding without the constant pressure from introduced predators.
Kea Sightings
Kea sightings by the public and also by the ZIP team are increasing, not just in regularity but in the number of kea seen at one time.
It is estimated the kea population has increased from <100 to 450 since predator removal in the project area began.
In 2023, locals in Ōkārito reported that kea have been more active near the coast than ever before. Detections on ZIP’s camera network in South Ōkārito increased sharply in the year after predator elimination operations began, and the Kea Survey Tool shows a significant increase in kea encounters in the Perth-Barlow block.
Kiekie
Kieikie has been seen fruiting and flowering around Ōkārito township for the first time in living memory
Rātā
In the summer of 2024/25 there was an amazing rata bloom in South Westland.
Rātā only blooms every few years for reasons that aren’t completely understood, though climatic conditions in previous years are thought to be a factor.
Possums love the leaves and shoots of rātā and can kill these magnificent trees. While pest control doesn’t lead to a great rātā bloom, it does mean that rātā trees survive to have these spectacular shows.
With no predator pressure in the core of Predator Free South Westland, the rātā was magnificent.
Footage – Jason Blair, Katabatic
Rimu & Kamahi seedlings
Rimu and kamahi seedlings are filling the understory of the forests in South Ōkārito, regeneration that is almost certainly the result of the history of aerial 1080 operations in the area since 1998.
“I’ve never seen such abundant and dense vegetation regeneration in any native forest during my entire career.”
– Thomas Paul, SCION
Rowi Chick
DOC’s monitoring programme shows that rowi chick survival over the 2023/24 breeding season was 58%, up from an average of 17% before ZIP’s predator elimination work began. To grow the population by 2%, we need a survival rate of at least 26% – meaning that if this level of breeding success continues, rowi will be pulled away from the brink of extinction
Ōkārito Lagoon
“Swade and I have had the privilege of exploring the Ōkārito Lagoon nearly every day for 17 years. Over the past two years, we’ve noticed an extraordinary transformation in our local birdlife. We used to only hear the chattering, laughing call of the kākāriki every six months or so; now it’s every week pretty much, with frequent sightings of small flocks flitting above us on the water.”
Paula Sheridan, Ōkārito Eco Boat Tours
South Westland Forests
“The top reasons for people visiting the region include connecting to nature, bird watching, sightseeing and short walks. ZIP’s work is bringing a return in birdlife to South Westland forests, enhancing people’s experiences in nature and diversifying the regions value proposition.”
Zak Shaw, Development West Coast
In 2025 ZIP ranger Chad Cottle revisited the core of the predator free area in the Perth and Barlow valleys.
“The birdlife is noticeably healthier, with bellbirds going off everywhere like lasers. I heard tūī, fantails, silvereyes and kākāriki, while a robin pecked at the ground by my boot, and a tomtit watched me from a nearby tree. We never heard kākāriki anywhere in the valley before 2021, and the forest, although not dead, was far quieter than today.”