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Orokonui Ecosanctuary Second Decade Strategy 2020 to 2030

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Orokonui Ecosanctuary Second Decade Strategy 2020 to 2030 Orokonui Ecosanctuary Second Decade Strategy 2020 to 2030 April 2019 Our Purpose – A Future for Our Past Orokonui Ecosanctuary exists to inspire and empower all our visitors to make New Zealand safe again for its indigenous fauna and flora Orokonui has done a great job on inspiration over its first decade of existence primarily through the visitor experience in the ecosanctuary made possible by Orokonui’s investment in conservation and restoration and in our powerful education programmes to school-age children (mostly primary) and in regular media columns in print and social media Objectives to 2030 Focus on the river not the rocks For next 10 years we will further Our strategies are the result of several months of extend our successful inspiration research and discussion over the summer of strategies 2018/2019 involving staff, trustees and directors of And will also do more to empower Orokonui’s governing boards. our visitors to widen restoration beyond the fence Like a kayaker taking on a new rapid, we have And so, improve biodiversity carefully studied where we want the river to take outcomes for the wider Dunedin us, then specified: region Objectives to 2030 (the river) Challenges and risks (the rocks) Strategies to 2030 Resources (the kayak) Strategies (the paddle) We have developed strategies for Orokonui’s second decade in: The Visitor Experience Over the next decade we will focus on the river – Conservation and Restoration our progress towards meeting our objectives – and Education the path we have set to avoid the rocks. We will ensure we have the resources that will be our kayak Research down the rapid. And we will constantly review the Our partners strategies that will be our paddle and steer us Our People towards our goals. Our Assets The Visitor Experience Orokonui inspires its visitors by Resources (the kayak) confronting them with an ecology that is Doubling visitor numbers will put getting closer every day to the way New pressure on infrastructure and staff – Zealand was before people came; an especially at peak time of December and ecology populated only by New Zealand’s January indigenous plants and animals. Double staff numbers in reception, venue The ecosanctuary offers a graded range of hire, café and guides from 5 to 10 visitor experiences, beginning with the Increase (by 100%) car park, toilets and visitor centre (including café, shop and wastewater systems venue hire opportunities), progressing to Current visitor centre adequate to meet the level enclosures, and on to immersion in increased visitor numbers if (1) education the bush, with self-guided and guided tours programmes are relocated to a new that offer our most complete exposure to Education Building and (2) visits are the indigenous ecology being restored in the spread more evenly over the year and ecosanctuary. over the day Objectives to 2030 (the river) Strategies (the paddle) To have visitor numbers grow from Spread visitors more evenly across the 14,000 now to 25-30,000 year (shoulder seasons) and times of day To double the number of Dunedin Create another track residents visiting the sanctuary Include more points of interest to spread To double the number of visitors visitor density deepening their Orokonui experience with guided tours Develop a wider range of experiences, “Take Orokonui Home” - an some outside of current opening hours integrated programme of adult Offer differential pricing to encourage education, equipment sales, and deeper experience tours and spread sales or referrals to native plant visitor demand nurseries. Target the 33,000 gardens Develop and launch a self-funded “Take in Dunedin of more than 500m2. Orokonui Home” programme Objective: 3000 “I’m an Orokonui Gardener” by 2030. Build profile on digital platforms to draw visitors to the real thing Challenges and risks (the rocks) Sustaining the quality of the visitor experience with double the number of visitors Appeal of virtual worlds over the real thing Ill-advised encouragement of bird feeding by “Orokonui gardeners” Conservation and Restoration Orokonui has reintroduced nine species since the fence was erected in 2008. Populations of South Island Robin, Kākā, Jewelled Gecko and Green Skink have been established. Tuatara have been restored for the first time in centuries, and a population of the threatened Haast Tokoeka Kiwi reside within the ecosanctuary. Advocacy populations of Takahē, Tuatara and Otago Skinks allow visitors to view these rarely seen species. Maturing bush and sustained weeding increasingly deliver an ecology that no longer exists close to a major urban area. Our long-term objective is to see native birds return to the Dunedin district. Orokonui will play a key role in building community commitment to the project. The aim is to establish a relatively safe corridor of good habitat and predator control which Orokonui birds will use to colonise the wider area. Objectives to 2030 (the river) Active support of Kāti Huirapa ki Eliminate chance of fence incursion by Puketeraki for DOC-enabled predators (rats, mustelids, possum) and translocations reduce the tracking rate of mice to 5% Addition of an infrastructure manager once each year and community development ranger will Three new populations to be established increase staff from 4 to 6 from Kākāriki, Tīeke, Tautuku Forest Gecko, Duvaucel’s Gecko, Snipe, Mohua Strategies (the paddle) Make full use of new technologies to Re-engineering of vulnerable areas of enhance the safety and quality of the the fence and culvert system, and ecology at Orokonui preventative maintenance to best- In partnership with Predator Free available standard Dunedin and other stakeholders, Eradicate Darwin’s Barberry and Spanish complete a plan for relatively safe bird- Heath; control Pines, Eucalyptus, Gorse migration corridors from Orokonui to the and Broom; prevent Sycamore and wider district Chilean Flamecreeper Challenges and risks (the rocks) Introduce Dactylanthus; promote Matai, Neighbouring mature bush encourages Kōwhai, Rimu and Kahikatea migration beyond the fence and Successful species translocations of exposure to predation three new populations Failure to reduce predation around the Attract Tītī to the ecosanctuary ecosanctuary to safe enough levels Secure habitat for native fish Complete a feasibility study for bird Resources (the kayak) migration corridors from Orokonui to the wider district Orokonui is big enough to be useful to conservation yet manageable in size Strengthen collaborative relationships with key stakeholders along the Investment in the fence and culverts corridors into committed project system required to deal with changing partners weather events Education Orokonui’s education programmes have been one of our most powerful strategies for inspiring enthusiasm for conservation and restoration. In its first 10 years, the focus has been on primary schools, with newly developed programmes for secondary schools also being well received. Orokonui’s education programmes currently reach more than 6,000 students each year, in and outside of the ecosanctuary. Several departments of the University of Otago regularly use the sanctuary for teaching and research. Objectives to 2030 (the river) Resources (the kayak) To have each school age child in Dunedin visit The current education room is Orokonui at least twice during their school inadequate to service current career: once at primary and once at demand - a new education building secondary/intermediate of approximately 350m2 is being To have children from elsewhere in Otago planned visit at least once Staff in school age programmes will To have all Dunedin secondary/intermediate increase from 1.5 eft to 2.5, life science programmes include Orokonui primarily in secondary level To extend education into new segments Specialist staffing with skills for including adult education and therapeutic adult education programmes will programmes require 1eft To grow sources of income other than LEOTC, to include adult education programmes Strategies (the paddle) Extend reach of new secondary Challenges and risks (the rocks) programmes to all schools offering Sustaining quality to an expanded life science credits number of school children and a broader To expand education offerings to scope of offerings in adult education community education, university, Changes in Ministry of Education funding therapeutic programmes, adult education, and professional model for LEOTC at some point over the development for teachers and decade others who use the outdoors in their professional practice Education and training programmes for adult markets to be self-funding Research … in a standardised format compatible with the data planning and management tools used at Orokonui, and by suppliers of source data such as Dunedin City Council and the Department of Conservation All research to meet the standards of good science Challenges and risks (the rocks) Inadequate peer review of research leading to poor science and reputational damage Orokonui offers a unique and easily accessible Breakdown in relationship with site to study native fauna and flora of the South research partners Island in a predator free environment. Use of the Incomplete and inaccessible data ecosanctuary for research continues to grow strongly, much of it stemming from the University Security of the research database; of Otago. The Orokonui Knowledge Group (OKG) is inadequate data back-up a committee of research scientists and practitioners
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