# Kawau Island

Kawau Island is in the Hauraki Gulf, close to the north-eastern coast of the North Island of New Zealand. At its closest point it lies 1.4 km (0.87 mi) off the coast of the Northland Peninsula, just south of Tāwharanui Peninsula, and about 8 km (5.0 mi) by sea journey from Sandspit Wharf, and shelters Kawau Bay to the north-east of Warkworth. It is 40 km (25 mi) north of Auckland. Mansion House in the Kawau Island Historic Reserve is an important historic tourist attraction. Almost every property on the Island relies on direct access to the sea. There are only two short roads serving settlements at Schoolhouse Bay and South Cove, and most residents have private wharves for access to their front door steps.
The island is named after the Māori word for the shag.
A regular ferry service operates to the island from Sandspit Wharf on the mainland, as do water taxi services.

## Geography

The island is 8 by 5 km (5.0 by 3.1 mi) at its longest axes, and is almost bisected by the long inlet of Bon Accord Harbour which is geologically a "drowned valley". The sheltered location of the bay has made it a favourite stop for yachts for more than a century. The island is formed primarily by greywacke rocks and small lava flows, which formed on the seafloor before the island was uplifted by tectonic forces. Many of these lava flows were associated with hydrothermal springs, which precipitated metal sulfides and minerals rich in iron, manganese and copper.
Approximately 17,000 years ago during the Last Glacial Maximum when sea levels were over 100 metres lower than present day levels, Kawau Island was landlocked to the North Island, and surrounded by a vast coastal plain where the Hauraki Gulf exists today. Sea levels began to rise 7,000 years ago, after which Kawau became an island separated from the rest of New Zealand.

## History

Kawau, though providing little arable land, was well-favoured by Māori for its beautiful surrounding waters, with battles over the island common from the 17th century on. Traditional stories involve the ancestor Toi-te-huatahi naming the island Te Kawau Tu Maro, meaning the shag (cormorant) standing watch. Kawau was occupied for generations by Tāmaki Māori tribes including Te Kawerau and Ngāi Tai. A defensive pā, Momona, is found on the island, located in the south-west along the ridge close to modern-day Mansion House.
Entrepreneurs from New South Wales purchased the island in 1840, and shortly afterwards James Forbes Beattie formed the Kawau Company, intending to mine copper on the island. Miners from Falmouth, Cornwall were brought over for the operation, later joined by smelters from Wales, once it was discovered that unsmelted ore was a fire hazard for ships, and an ore smelting operation was begun on the island. A rival company, funded by Frederick Whitaker and Theophilus Heale, was granted land immediately outside of the Kawau Company's land grant, giving them control of the wharf. The rival company created shafts underneath the Kawau Company's land, which led to a confrontation when miners from the Kawau Company broke into the rival company's heading. In 1846 the rival company's grant was rejected, and the Kawau Company took full possession of the mines in 1848. In 1844/45 the island produced about 7,000 pounds of copper, which was about a third of Auckland's exports for that year. The island was bought a few years later by Sir George Grey, Governor of New Zealand, in 1862 as a private retreat. Grey extended the original copper mine manager's house (built 1845) to create the Mansion House, which still stands, and made the surrounding land into a botanical and zoological park, importing many plants and animals. The house changed hands several times after Grey, and decayed increasingly, but has been restored and furnished to its state in the period of Governor Grey and is now in public ownership in the Kawau Island Historic Reserve, administered by the New Zealand Department of Conservation. The reserve is public land and covers 10% of the Island, and includes the old copper mine, believed to be the site of New Zealand's first underground metalliferous mining venture (1844). The ruins of the mine's pumphouse are registered as a Category I heritage structure.
The island is home to kiwi and two-thirds of the entire population of North Island weka. Among the animals that Grey introduced were five species of wallabies, as well as kookaburra. Three of the six introduced wallaby species remain and do considerable damage to the native vegetation, thus harming the habitat for these flightless birds and other native fauna. The wallabies destroy all emerging seedlings which means that the present native trees are the last generation. The usual understorey forest species are absent due to wallaby browsing and in many cases the ground is bare. Possums, also introduced by Grey, destroy mature native trees. The result has been a considerable loss of biodiversity, with bird numbers plummeting due to loss of both food supply and habitat. Even the surrounding marine environment has been severely compromised by silt carried from the bare ground by rainwater.
Grey's wallaby introduction however had some minor indirect benefit in the early 2000s, when species from the island were introduced into Australia's Innes National Park to boost genetic diversity.

### Pohutukawa Trust New Zealand

Pohutukawa Trust New Zealand was founded in 1992 by Ray Weaver and other private landowners who own 90% of the island, "to rehabilitate the native flora and fauna of Kawau Island". Until then it was considered hopeless to reverse the considerable ecological damage caused by the introduced animal and plant species, and Kawau was said to be of historical rather than botanical importance. The Trust is a registered Charity and has run continuously since its beginnings in 1992. The Pohutukawa Trust was chaired until his death in 2015 by Ray Weaver, and is now chaired by his brother Carl. The Trust's plan is to eradicate all introduced animal pests in stages starting firstly with wallabies, possums and stoats. Pest removal and the eradication of certain weed species and control others, will enable sustainable land use in a restored ecological setting of native flora and fauna. The ongoing program is funded by donations and sponsors. Both Wallaby and Possum numbers have been steadily since 1985 through sustained control, saving the coastal pōhutukawa tree, a New Zealand icon. From a period when possum numbers were at plague proportions across the island they are effectively absent form the private landowners properties. In the first quarter of 2024 the island was surveyed using trained detection dogs to establish the current status of stoats on the island and no trace of animals was able to be found. The trust is not able to claim at this stage that the inability of these specialized dejection teams to find presence of a stoat is that it has eradicated them at this stage but it is possible. As stoats are one of the major predators for young kiwi, the trusts removal of these animals is a significant contributing factor in kiwi numbers exploding since the early 2000s.
The response to pest control work has been increasing native bird numbers, including increased kiwi calls, brown teal, kaka, kererū, and bellbirds.
After assisting with capturing all of the rare brushtail rock wallabies that could economically be recovered from the private land for relocation to a successful captive breeding program established by Waterfall Springs Conservation Association in Wahroonga, Australia, Pohutukawa Trust New Zealand is now humanely eradicating the remaining wallabies from the island, to enable ecological restoration (mainly by natural regeneration). As at 2019 four wallaby species, Tammar wallaby, Parma wallaby, Bush-tailed rock-wallaby and Swamp wallaby, all continue to threaten the native species on the island.
An inventory of remaining indigenous plants and forest fragments on the island was compiled in 1996 and is being progressively enhanced to define the remnant resource still available for restoration, and several rare indigenous plant species have been discovered during the process.
Following the successful removal of Wallaby and Opossum other animal pests the Trust intends to eradicate in stages as resources enable included, feral cats, and ship rats. Exotic plants unpalatable to the wallabies have become serious invasive weeds on the island, and the Trust's plans include eradication or control of these also as part of the ecological restoration process.
The serious threat of possums to New Zealand's indigenous forest was first identified on Kawau by Ray Weaver in 1955. Since then possums have become a major animal pest in New Zealand, compromising both forest health and the country's primary industries. Governor Grey introduced possums to Kawau in 1868–69. The first liberation in New Zealand is believed to have been by Captain Howell at Riverton in the South Island in 1837.
The Pohutukawa Trust New Zealand received a Green Ribbon Award from the Ministry for the Environment in 2003 "for outstanding leadership and commitment to environmental protection".

### Department of Conservation controlled land

About 10% of the island is under the control of the Department of Conservation, which tries to keep the protected areas free of invasive pests and animals. As at 2002, Kawau Island was home to the largest island population of North Island weka.

## Demographics

Statistics New Zealand describes Kawau Island as a rural settlement which covers 21.57 km$^2$ (8.33 sq mi) and includes Motuora, Moturekareka Island, Motuketekete Island, Takangaroa Island and Rabbit Island, all of which are uninhabited. It had an estimated population of 150 as of June 2024, with a population density of 7.0 people per km$^2$. The area is part of the larger Gulf Islands statistical area.
Kawau Island had a population of 96 in the 2023 New Zealand census, an increase of 15 people (18.5%) since the 2018 census, and an increase of 18 people (23.1%) since the 2013 census. There were 54 males and 45 females in 60 dwellings. 3.1% of people identified as LGBTIQ+. The median age was 62.6 years (compared with 38.1 years nationally). There were 6 people (6.2%) aged under 15 years, 6 (6.2%) aged 15 to 29, 39 (40.6%) aged 30 to 64, and 45 (46.9%) aged 65 or older.
People could identify as more than one ethnicity. The results were 87.5% European (Pākehā); 12.5% Māori; and 3.1% Middle Eastern, Latin American and African New Zealanders (MELAA). English was spoken by 100.0%, Māori language by 3.1%, and other languages by 9.4%. The percentage of people born overseas was 21.9, compared with 28.8% nationally.
Religious affiliations were 28.1% Christian, and 3.1% New Age. People who answered that they had no religion were 62.5%, and 3.1% of people did not answer the census question.
Of those at least 15 years old, 12 (13.3%) people had a bachelor's or higher degree, 54 (60.0%) had a post-high school certificate or diploma, and 18 (20.0%) people exclusively held high school qualifications. The median income was $25,100, compared with $41,500 nationally. 9 people (10.0%) earned over $100,000 compared to 12.1% nationally. The employment status of those at least 15 was that 27 (30.0%) people were employed full-time and 15 (16.7%) were part-time.

### Gulf Islands

The statistical area of Gulf Islands also includes Rangitoto Island, Motutapu Island, Browns Island, Motuihe Island and Rakino Island, but Kawau Island has the majority of the population. Gulf Islands covers 66.11 km$^2$ (25.53 sq mi) and had an estimated population of 180 as of June 2024, with a population density of 2.7 people per km$^2$.
Gulf Islands had a population of 138 in the 2023 New Zealand census, an increase of 27 people (24.3%) since the 2018 census, and an increase of 18 people (15.0%) since the 2013 census. There were 72 males and 66 females in 99 dwellings. 4.3% of people identified as LGBTIQ+. The median age was 62.6 years (compared with 38.1 years nationally). There were 6 people (4.3%) aged under 15 years, 12 (8.7%) aged 15 to 29, 60 (43.5%) aged 30 to 64, and 60 (43.5%) aged 65 or older.
People could identify as more than one ethnicity. The results were 89.1% European (Pākehā); 13.0% Māori; 4.3% Pasifika; and 2.2% Middle Eastern, Latin American and African New Zealanders (MELAA). English was spoken by 100.0%, Māori language by 2.2%, and other languages by 10.9%. The percentage of people born overseas was 23.9, compared with 28.8% nationally.
Religious affiliations were 26.1% Christian, and 2.2% New Age. People who answered that they had no religion were 65.2%, and 6.5% of people did not answer the census question.
Of those at least 15 years old, 27 (20.5%) people had a bachelor's or higher degree, 69 (52.3%) had a post-high school certificate or diploma, and 30 (22.7%) people exclusively held high school qualifications. The median income was $26,600, compared with $41,500 nationally. 12 people (9.1%) earned over $100,000 compared to 12.1% nationally. The employment status of those at least 15 was that 39 (29.5%) people were employed full-time and 27 (20.5%) were part-time.