28 August 2007

Forest & Bird delighted that Stephens Island tuatara will be protected

Forest & Bird is delighted that New Zealand’s largest population of tuatara will be protected from unnecessary threat by tourists.

The Department of Conservation has declined an application by Tuatara Maori Ltd to fly tourists on to Stephens Island/Takapourewa, at the top of the Marlborough Sounds, to see and touch tuatara.

The proposal would have allowed up to 56 tourists plus guides to visit the island in the Marlborough Sounds in 14 helicopter trips a year.

Forest & Bird Top of the South Island Field Officer Debs Martin says DOC’s decision was the right one for conservation, given the high importance of Stephens Island/Takapourewa in protecting not only tuatara, but a range of other endangered species.

“DOC’s decision acknowledges that tourism and the management of our precious and endangered species do not always go hand in hand,” she says.

“Stephens Island/Takapourewa is home to 90% of the world population of tuatara, and is simply too valuable to put at risk. Any visit poses the threat of introduction of pests and disease, fire, poaching and damage to the environment.”

“The island is a nature reserve of international significance and one of New Zealand’s top five most valuable islands for nature protection. Our ‘footprint’ on island reserves of this importance should be restricted to only essential management, restoration and research.”

Debs Martin says there are other opportunities for tourists to see tuatara in the open, such as Tiritiri Matangi Island and Little Barrier/Hauturu Island near Auckland and Matiu/Somes Island and Karori Wildlife Sanctuary in Wellington.

Background notes on tuatara

Stephens Island/Takapourewa is home to about 50,000 tuatara – about 90% of the total tuatara population – as well as other threatened species including Hamilton’s frog, endangered geckos and colonies of rare seabirds.

The tuatara is the sole living representative of Sphenodontia, a unique order of reptiles that flourished in the pre-dinosaur era. They became extinct everywhere except in New Zealand about 60 million years ago.

Tuatara are listed as Vulnerable on the IUCN (World Conservation Union) Red List of Species Threatened with Extinction.

Once found throughout the mainland of New Zealand, tuatara became extinct there by the late 1700s, largely because of the impact of rats, and now survive in the wild only on 32 offshore islands.

Stephens Island/Takapourewa became a restricted access nature reserve in 1994, managed by DOC, and no recreational access has previously been permitted.

The Conservation Act, DOC’s conservation management strategy for the region, draft management plans for the island, and the Tuatara Recovery Plan all support an extremely cautious approach towards allowing activities such as tourism that may endanger conservation of tuatara on Stephens Island/Takapourewa.

ENDS

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