Tiritiri Matangi Island
Encyclopedia
Tiritiri Matangi Island lies in the Hauraki Gulf
of New Zealand
, 4 km (2.5 mi) east of the Whangaparaoa Peninsula
in the North Island
and 30 km (18.6 mi) north east of Auckland
. The 2.2 km² (0.849424748903577 sq mi) island is an open nature reserve
managed under the supervision of the Department of Conservation and is noted for its bird
life, including kiwi
and takahē
. It attracts about 20,000 visitors a year.
The name, meaning "tossed by the wind" in Māori
, is often popularly shortened to Tiritiri. Māori mythology considers the island to be a float of an ancestral fishing net.
iwi
. Later, members of the Ngati Paoa moved to Tiritiri Matangi, like the Kawerau partly for shark
fishing until about 1700, when the Kawerau regained control of the island and remained until forced to retreat to Waikato
in 1821 when Hongi Hika
attacked from the north. There were two pā
on the island, Tiritiri Matangi Pā and Papakura Pā.
European (Pākehā
) settlers arrived in the early 19th century. When the Kawerau returned, friction ensued as both peoples had a claim to the island. In 1867 the Māori Land Court
granted title to the government.
A lighthouse
was constructed near the southern end of the island in 1864, and remains in operation. The island was farmed from 1894 to 1971, when the farm's lease expired. Management was then vested in the Hauraki Gulf Maritime Park Board, which ceased farming operations.
would regenerate naturally, making the island a suitable habitat for native bird life, as it lacked introduced predators such as mustelids, present on the mainland. However, afforestation seemed to be happening very slowly and a large number of volunteers was recruited to plant saplings and sow tree seeds. Nearly 300,000 native trees and shrubs were planted in the revegetation project from 1984 to 1994.
The next intervention was eradication in 1993 of the Polynesian rat
, known to Māori as kiore, which was destroying seedlings and competing with birds for food. The kiore were killed by an aerial drop of poisoned bait, which was controversial due to its lack of planning and the effect on other wildlife. For instance, 90% of pukeko on the island were killed.
Seventy-eight species of bird have been observed on or near the island. Endangered native species introduced or reintroduced
as part of the ongoing island restoration
project include the little spotted kiwi
, takahē
, tieke, kokako
, stitchbird
and brown teal
. In 2003 the tuatara
, a reptile, was also reintroduced. Non-native species present include the Australian brown quail
. The success of the conservation project encouraged the creation of a number of similar projects around the Gulf
, such as on Motuihe.
A ferry service runs from Auckland Ferry Terminal
and Gulf Harbour
, and guided tours are available. It is a popular destination for daytrippers (with trips often booked full), attracting some 20,000 visitors annually who enjoy an intensity of birdsong rarely heard on the mainland. The island has also hosted several tens of thousands of conservation volunteers over the preceding decades.
Hauraki Gulf
The Hauraki Gulf is a coastal feature of the North Island of New Zealand. It has a total area of 4000 km², and lies between the Auckland Region, the Hauraki Plains, the Coromandel Peninsula and Great Barrier Island...
of New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
, 4 km (2.5 mi) east of the Whangaparaoa Peninsula
Whangaparaoa Peninsula
Whangaparaoa Peninsula is a peninsula and suburban area, around 25 km north of Auckland, New Zealand. Part of Rodney District, as of 2006, it had 22,788 residents, many of them in the eponymous town of Whangaparaoa on its southern side.-Geography:...
in the North Island
North Island
The North Island is one of the two main islands of New Zealand, separated from the much less populous South Island by Cook Strait. The island is in area, making it the world's 14th-largest island...
and 30 km (18.6 mi) north east of Auckland
Auckland
The Auckland metropolitan area , in the North Island of New Zealand, is the largest and most populous urban area in the country with residents, percent of the country's population. Auckland also has the largest Polynesian population of any city in the world...
. The 2.2 km² (0.849424748903577 sq mi) island is an open nature reserve
Nature reserve
A nature reserve is a protected area of importance for wildlife, flora, fauna or features of geological or other special interest, which is reserved and managed for conservation and to provide special opportunities for study or research...
managed under the supervision of the Department of Conservation and is noted for its bird
Bird
Birds are feathered, winged, bipedal, endothermic , egg-laying, vertebrate animals. Around 10,000 living species and 188 families makes them the most speciose class of tetrapod vertebrates. They inhabit ecosystems across the globe, from the Arctic to the Antarctic. Extant birds range in size from...
life, including kiwi
Kiwi
Kiwi are flightless birds endemic to New Zealand, in the genus Apteryx and family Apterygidae.At around the size of a domestic chicken, kiwi are by far the smallest living ratites and lay the largest egg in relation to their body size of any species of bird in the world...
and takahē
Takahe
The Takahē or South Island Takahē, Porphyrio hochstetteri is a flightless bird indigenous to New Zealand and belonging to the rail family. It was thought to be extinct after the last four known specimens were taken in 1898...
. It attracts about 20,000 visitors a year.
The name, meaning "tossed by the wind" in Māori
Maori language
Māori or te reo Māori , commonly te reo , is the language of the indigenous population of New Zealand, the Māori. It has the status of an official language in New Zealand...
, is often popularly shortened to Tiritiri. Māori mythology considers the island to be a float of an ancestral fishing net.
Human use
The first people to settle on Tiritiri Matangi were Māori of the KawerauTe Kawerau
Te Kawerau is a Māori iwi from Northland, New Zealand....
iwi
Iwi
In New Zealand society, iwi form the largest everyday social units in Māori culture. The word iwi means "'peoples' or 'nations'. In "the work of European writers which treat iwi and hapū as parts of a hierarchical structure", it has been used to mean "tribe" , or confederation of tribes,...
. Later, members of the Ngati Paoa moved to Tiritiri Matangi, like the Kawerau partly for shark
Shark
Sharks are a type of fish with a full cartilaginous skeleton and a highly streamlined body. The earliest known sharks date from more than 420 million years ago....
fishing until about 1700, when the Kawerau regained control of the island and remained until forced to retreat to Waikato
Waikato
The Waikato Region is a local government region of the upper North Island of New Zealand. It covers the Waikato, Hauraki, Coromandel Peninsula, the northern King Country, much of the Taupo District, and parts of Rotorua District...
in 1821 when Hongi Hika
Hongi Hika
Hongi Hika was a New Zealand Māori rangatira and war leader of the Ngāpuhi iwi . Hongi Hika used European weapons to overrun much of northern New Zealand in the first of the Musket Wars...
attacked from the north. There were two pā
Pa (Maori)
The word pā can refer to any Māori village or settlement, but in traditional use it referred to hillforts fortified with palisades and defensive terraces and also to fortified villages. They first came into being about 1450. They are located mainly in the North Island north of lake Taupo...
on the island, Tiritiri Matangi Pā and Papakura Pā.
European (Pākehā
Pakeha
Pākehā is a Māori language word for New Zealanders who are "of European descent". They are mostly descended from British and to a lesser extent Irish settlers of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, although some Pākehā have Dutch, Scandinavian, German, Yugoslav or other ancestry...
) settlers arrived in the early 19th century. When the Kawerau returned, friction ensued as both peoples had a claim to the island. In 1867 the Māori Land Court
Maori Land Court
The Māori Land Court is the specialist court in New Zealand that hears matters relating to Māori land.The Māori Land Court was established in 1865 as the Native Land Court. In 1954, the name was changed to the Māori Land Court...
granted title to the government.
A lighthouse
Tiritiri Matangi Lighthouse
Tiritiri Matangi Lighthouse is a lighthouse on Tiritiri Matangi, an island in the Hauraki Gulf 28 km north of Auckland in the North Island of New Zealand. It is owned and operated by Maritime New Zealand. It is considered the best-preserved lighthouse complex in the country, and is the oldest...
was constructed near the southern end of the island in 1864, and remains in operation. The island was farmed from 1894 to 1971, when the farm's lease expired. Management was then vested in the Hauraki Gulf Maritime Park Board, which ceased farming operations.
Regeneration and sanctuary
It was hoped that native forestForest
A forest, also referred to as a wood or the woods, is an area with a high density of trees. As with cities, depending where you are in the world, what is considered a forest may vary significantly in size and have various classification according to how and what of the forest is composed...
would regenerate naturally, making the island a suitable habitat for native bird life, as it lacked introduced predators such as mustelids, present on the mainland. However, afforestation seemed to be happening very slowly and a large number of volunteers was recruited to plant saplings and sow tree seeds. Nearly 300,000 native trees and shrubs were planted in the revegetation project from 1984 to 1994.
Polynesian Rat
The Polynesian Rat, or Pacific Rat , known to the Māori as kiore, is the third most widespread species of rat in the world behind the Brown Rat and Black Rat. The Polynesian Rat originates in Southeast Asia but, like its cousins, has become well travelled – infiltrating Fiji and most Polynesian...
, known to Māori as kiore, which was destroying seedlings and competing with birds for food. The kiore were killed by an aerial drop of poisoned bait, which was controversial due to its lack of planning and the effect on other wildlife. For instance, 90% of pukeko on the island were killed.
Seventy-eight species of bird have been observed on or near the island. Endangered native species introduced or reintroduced
Reintroduction
Reintroduction is the deliberate release of a species into the wild in zones formerly inhabited by said species but where it has disappeared from for a number of reasons, from captivity or relocated from other areas where the species still survives in...
as part of the ongoing island restoration
Island restoration
The ecological restoration of islands, or island restoration, is the application of the principles of ecological restoration to islands and island groups. Islands, due to their isolation, are home to many of the world's endemic species, as well as important breeding grounds for seabirds and some...
project include the little spotted kiwi
Little Spotted Kiwi
The Little Spotted Kiwi or Little Gray Kiwi, Apteryx owenii, is a small species of kiwi originally from New Zealand's South Island that, around 1890 and 1910 was captured and later released on Kapiti Island...
, takahē
Takahe
The Takahē or South Island Takahē, Porphyrio hochstetteri is a flightless bird indigenous to New Zealand and belonging to the rail family. It was thought to be extinct after the last four known specimens were taken in 1898...
, tieke, kokako
Kokako
The Kōkako is a forest bird which is endemic to New Zealand. It is slate-grey with wattles and a black mask. It is one of three species of New Zealand Wattlebird, the other two being the endangered Tieke and the extinct Huia...
, stitchbird
Stitchbird
The Stitchbird or Hihi is a rare honeyeater-like bird endemic to the North Island and adjacent offshore islands of New Zealand. It became extirpated everywhere except Little Barrier Island but has been reintroduced to three other island sanctuaries and two locations on the North Island mainland...
and brown teal
Brown Teal
The Brown Teal or New Zealand Teal, is a species of dabbling duck of the genus Anas. The Māori name for it is Pāteke. It was considered to be conspecific with the flightless Auckland and Campbell Teals in Anas aucklandica; the name "Brown Teal" was applied to that entire taxon...
. In 2003 the tuatara
Tuatara
The tuatara is a reptile endemic to New Zealand which, though it resembles most lizards, is actually part of a distinct lineage, order Sphenodontia. The two species of tuatara are the only surviving members of its order, which flourished around 200 million years ago. Their most recent common...
, a reptile, was also reintroduced. Non-native species present include the Australian brown quail
Brown Quail
The Brown Quail , also known as Swamp Quail, is an Australasian true quail of the family Phasianidae.The Brown Quail is distributed in agricultural areas, wet grasslands, shrublands and freshwater wetlands across much of New Guinea and the Lesser Sunda Islands as well as in northern, eastern,...
. The success of the conservation project encouraged the creation of a number of similar projects around the Gulf
Hauraki Gulf
The Hauraki Gulf is a coastal feature of the North Island of New Zealand. It has a total area of 4000 km², and lies between the Auckland Region, the Hauraki Plains, the Coromandel Peninsula and Great Barrier Island...
, such as on Motuihe.
A ferry service runs from Auckland Ferry Terminal
Auckland Ferry Terminal
The Auckland Ferry Terminal, sometimes called the Downtown Ferry Terminal, is the hub of the Auckland ferry network that connects Auckland City with North Shore City and some locations in Waitakere City and Manukau City. The ferry terminal is in the Auckland CBD on the Auckland waterfront...
and Gulf Harbour
Gulf Harbour
Gulf Harbour is a development some 4 km from the end of the Whangaparaoa Peninsula, towards the northern end of Auckland, New Zealand. It has one of the country's largest marinas, one of the country's top golf courses, and is regarded as a retreat for Auckland's well-off...
, and guided tours are available. It is a popular destination for daytrippers (with trips often booked full), attracting some 20,000 visitors annually who enjoy an intensity of birdsong rarely heard on the mainland. The island has also hosted several tens of thousands of conservation volunteers over the preceding decades.
External links
- Supporters of Tiritiri Matangi (website of the conservation group dedicated to the island)
- Tiritiri Matangi Scientific Reserve (Open Sanctuary) (Department of Conservation webpage)
- Part one of audio tour of Tiritiri Matangi (Graeme Hill)
- Part two of audio tour of Tiritiri Matangi (Graeme Hill)