Through an intensive 10 year pest control and monitoring programme, DOC and other organisations and volunteers are working together to target species that are the biggest threat to native bird life and forest systems.

The project is named for the iconic native parrot the kākā, plentiful on nearby Kapiti Island and at Pukaha Mount Bruce, and representative of the many species that are expected to become more abundant as a result of this programme.

This initiative began in 2009 and covers a 29,801 ha area from Otaki Forks to Holdsworth campground. View map of Project Kaka zone (PDF, 776K) (opens in new window).The Project Kāka zone covers the most used areas of the park, so that as many people as possible will experience the expected improvement in forest health and increase in bird life. It includes a diverse range of forest types including fertile river valleys and higher altitude beech, kāmahi and fuchsia forests.

Project Kākā is also intensively monitoring changes in the adjacent forest areas over a 10 year period and comparing them to changes in the Project Kākā zone to learn more about how to improve pest management in the park.