About us
Neighbours looking after the bush.
Project Birdsong is run by Mahurangi West Pest: about 200 properties and over 150 volunteers across Mahurangi West and Hungry Creek, working towards healthy native bush and thriving native wildlife.
Our vision
A Mahurangi West where native bush is thriving and full of birdsong.
Understand
Learn which birds live here and how they are doing.
Restore
Clear pest plants and plant natives so the bush can regrow.
Protect
Look after what has been restored, for the long term.
Our story
From 2,100 to 3,500 hectares.
Our volunteers bring a wide mix of backgrounds and experience to one job: restoring native habitat across the peninsula through a long-term, sustainable programme.
An Auckland Council grant pays for a part-time community coordinator.
Read our annual reports- 2019
Mahurangi West Pest forms, covering about 2,100 hectares of the peninsula.
- 2020
The first bird counters are trained, setting a benchmark for the birdlife.
- 2022
Bird counts move onto Trap.NZ. Our first annual report. The Buffer Zone programme starts.
- 2024
Volunteers plant 144 native ground cover plants on the steep Jamieson Bay esplanade.
- 2026
Some 3,500 hectares covered, a renewed council-funded coordinator role and a three-year partnership with Auckland Council.
Our team
The people behind the project.
Leadership and support for restoration, monitoring, fundraising, communications and community engagement.
Brian Bramell
Chairperson
Rachel
Chief Operating Officer
Mike Neil
Pest Control
Joanna Gullett
Community Coordinator and Facilitator
Hugh Kininmonth
Treasurer
Beth Harper
Fundraising
Maxine Finlay
Pest Plant Buffer Project Coordinator
Robyn Mackenzie
Planting Coordinator
Mel Whaanga
Iwi Advisor
Iwi and whānau
Longstanding connections to this whenua.
Ngāti Maraeariki ki Mahurangi have ancestral ties to the area, including the pā sites of Maki and Korotangi. Members have been involved in planning and running the project since its early days.
The Morehu whānau own land on Jamieson Bay Road. In 2021 a grant application to the Rodney Healthy Harbours programme, made with the community, supported pine removal, restoration and native planting on this Māori land. The Roberts whānau own land at Opahi Bay.
Mel Whaanga has shared the Ngāti Maraeariki ki Mahurangi community Facebook page, with historical photos of settlement at Opahi Bay and Sullivans Bay (formerly Otarawao).
Ngāti Maraeariki on Facebook