Motuora is an island

nature reserve A nature reserve (also known as a wildlife refuge, wildlife sanctuary, biosphere reserve or bioreserve, natural or nature preserve, or nature conservation area) is a protected area of importance for flora, fauna, funga, or features of geologic ...

in the western

Hauraki Gulf The Hauraki Gulf / Tīkapa Moana is a coastal feature of the North Island of New Zealand. It has an area of 4000 km2,New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

North Island The North Island ( , 'the fish of Māui', historically New Ulster) is one of the two main islands of New Zealand, islands of New Zealand, separated from the larger but less populous South Island by Cook Strait. With an area of , it is the List ...

. It lies some south-west of

Kawau Island Kawau Island is in the Hauraki Gulf, close to the north-eastern coast of the North Island of New Zealand. It is named after the Māori word for the shag.At its closest point it lies off the coast of the Northland Peninsula, just south of Tā ...

, east of Mahurangi Heads and north of the city of

Auckland Auckland ( ; ) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. It has an urban population of about It is located in the greater Auckland Region, the area governed by Auckland Council, which includes outlying rural areas and ...

History

Although Motuora now has no permanent residents, it has a history of human occupation and was used for farming during much of the 20th century, when the native coastal forest was cleared apart from remnant patches along the cliffs. The island was bought by the government in 1965 as a recreation reserve. In 1990 a program of

ecological restoration Ecological restoration, or ecosystem restoration, is the process of assisting the recovery of an ecosystem that has been degraded, damaged, destroyed or transformed. It is distinct from conservation in that it attempts to retroactively repair ...

began, largely carried out by volunteers, with the Motuora Restoration Society (MRS) established in 1995. The MRS now manages the island jointly with the

Department of Conservation Department may refer to: * Departmentalization, division of a larger organization into parts with specific responsibility Government and military *Department (administrative division), a geographical and administrative division within a country, ...

(DOC).

Environment

Extensive planting of native vegetation has taken place on the island in order to restore the original forest cover. Exotic mammals never became established there. Native animals that have been introduced (or reintroduced) as part of the ecosystem restoration program include wetapunga, shore skinks, and

common Common may refer to: As an Irish surname, it is anglicised from Irish Gaelic surname Ó Comáin. Places * Common, a townland in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland * Boston Common, a central public park in Boston, Massachusetts * Cambridge Com ...

Pacific The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean, or, depending on the definition, to Antarctica in the south, and is bounded by the cont ...

and

Duvaucel's gecko Duvaucel's gecko (''Hoplodactylus duvaucelii'') is a species of lizard in the family Diplodactylidae. The species is endemic to New Zealand and regarded as 'at risk' by the New Zealand Department of Conservation (DOC) due to distribution limita ...

Birds

The island supports a small breeding colony of

Australasian gannet The Australasian gannet (''Morus serrator''), also known as the Australian gannet or tākapu, is a large seabird of the booby and gannet family, Sulidae. Adults are mostly white, with black flight feathers at the wingtips and lining the trailing ...

Common diving petrel The common diving petrel (''Pelecanoides urinatrix''), also known as the smaller diving petrel or simply the diving petrel, is a diving petrel, one of four very similar auk-like small petrels of the southern oceans. It is native to South Atlanti ...

and

Pycroft's petrel Pycroft's petrel (''Pterodroma pycrofti'') is a species of seabird in the petrel and shearwater family Procellariidae. Origin The Pycroft's petrel is a species of gadfly petrel (genus ''Pterodroma''), and is thought to be closely related to the ...

chicks have been translocated to the island in an effort to establish breeding colonies.

Grey-faced petrel The grey-faced petrel (''Pterodroma gouldi'') is a species of petrel endemic to the North Island of New Zealand. In New Zealand it is also known by its Māori name and (along with other species such as the sooty shearwater) as a muttonbird. ...

s nest on the island.

North Island brown kiwi The North Island brown kiwi (''Apteryx mantelli''; ''Apteryx australis'' or ''Apteryx bulleri'' as before 2000, still used in some sources) is a species of kiwi that is widespread in the northern two-thirds of the North Island of New Zealand and ...

s chicks have been brought to the island since 1999 as part of the Department of Conservation's Operation Nest Egg, which uses predator-free islands as ‘kiwi creche’ sites before the birds are transferred to the mainland.

References

External links

Motuora Restoration Society
Islands of the Hauraki Gulf Island restoration Seabird colonies Islands of the Auckland Region Uninhabited islands of New Zealand {{Auckland-geo-stub