Mainland Island

In a forested valley just minutes from downtown Wellington, a community-led organisation is spearheading an extraordinary vision: to restore a corner of mainland New Zealand to the way it was ‘the day before humans arrived’.

Many of New Zealand’s rarest native animals and plants are thriving and living free in a unique haven, safe from introduced predators – a so-called “Mainland Island”.

Belinda Henley joins the sanctuary’s staff for a momentous occasion – the release of several hand-reared Takahe, one of the rarest birds in the world, who are due to join the dozens of other safeguarded species.