Rotoroa Island: building a designed ecosystem for conservation education, training and visitor engagement

Abstract

Wildlife populations around the world are declining and becoming increasingly fragmented, and management efforts to support them have become more intensive. This means that the delineation between extensive wildlife-management systems (e.g. in national parks or large wildlife reserves) and intensive systems (e.g. zoos and aquariums) is becoming increasingly blurred. Furthermore, attitudes about how people fit into a traditional conservation or ecosystem-restoration framework are being challenged. In partnership with the Rotoroa Island Trust, Auckland Zoo in New Zealand is delivering a project on Rotoroa Island, which is located in the Hauraki Gulf. The aim of this project is to contribute to the conservation of wildlife, through education, training and visitor-engagement activities. To this end, Auckland Zoo has translocated seven native species to the Island, all selected to demonstrate a range of techniques across the spectrum of intensive and extensive wildlife-management systems. The creation of a designed ecosystem, primarily directed towards servicing education and training programmes, is unique in New Zealand. This project also aims to demonstrate an ecosystem where human intervention is integral to enabling higher levels of biodiversity in the available area than would otherwise be possible. At the time of writing the Rotoroa Wildlife Management and Translocation Plan 2013–2038 is being used to work towards the translocation of an additional 13 species to Rotoroa Island, which would expand the number of techniques and management systems that could be demonstrated to visitors.