Wētā Conservation
Every adult wētā t-shirt sold, donates $5 to Supporters of Tiritiri Matangi.
First established in 1988, the Supporters of Tiritiri Matangi (SoTM) is a non-profit conservation group that works in partnership with the Department of Conservation, iwi & other stakeholders to co-manage projects on the island.
The Supporters played a critical role in creating the forested sanctuary that Tiritiri Matangi Island is today by working with DOC to plant over 280,000 native trees between 1984 and 1994 using a volunteer workforce. Over the past three decades, the Supporters organisation has grown its membership and focused its work on the following areas; nature & cultural conservation, supporting scientific research, inspiring visitor engagement & education projects and providing opportunities for volunteers to be involved.
The Supporters played a critical role in creating the forested sanctuary that Tiritiri Matangi Island is today by working with DOC to plant over 280,000 native trees between 1984 and 1994 using a volunteer workforce. Over the past three decades, the Supporters organisation has grown its membership and focused its work on the following areas; nature & cultural conservation, supporting scientific research, inspiring visitor engagement & education projects and providing opportunities for volunteers to be involved.
To learn more, become involved or visit the motu, please go to: https://www.tiritirimatangi.org.nz
We love wētā on Tiritiri Matangi Island!
Several medium-bodied wētā species occur naturally on Tiritiri Matangi. A ground wētā (Hemiandrus pallitarsus) with a body length of >30 mm is abundant in remnants of mature broadleaf forest. The tree wētā (Hemideina thoracica), with a body length of >40 mm, is also present.
Tiritiri Matangi Island received its first translocation of wētā punga in 2011 when the Threatened Wētā Recovery Plan recommended that new populations of wētāpunga be established on appropriate mammal-free islands. With several top-up translocations since then monitoring shows that they are thriving and spreading across the island.
Want to see a wētā? There are "wētā hotels" in several locations on Tiritiri Matangi Island which often have the smaller residents inside, the wētāpunga however are much too large to fit inside and are instead found in the branches and leaves of trees.
Support the
wētā punga and the Supporters of Tiritiri Matangi and buy an adult wētā t-shirt.