From invasive predators and vanishing seabirds to AI-powered conservation and subantarctic restoration, the Maukahuka initiative is one of the world’s most ambitious ecological projects. Georgia Boscawen speaks to EYOS founder Rob McCallum about the race to return Auckland Island to its pre-human state.
In the far reaches of the Southern Ocean, between the tip of New Zealand’s South Island and Antarctica, lies a place that was once alive with seabirds and huge, otherworldly megaherbs. Auckland Island, the largest of New Zealand’s Subantarctic Islands, is a place of profound ecological significance.
Home to more than 500 species of native flora and fauna (100 of which are found nowhere else on earth), it is a living relic of a prehistoric world that a modern intrusion has ravaged.
In the early 1800s, sealers began to take advantage of the island’s abundant seal population and visited the island en masse. Pigs were introduced as a future food source, and soon, the island became overrun with mice and cats as well.
It wasn’t until 1894, when the targeted seal sources were placed under protection, that the island saw a glimmer of salvation. But the established populations of non-native pests caused devastation to Auckland Island’s already fragile ecosystem.
Today, much of Auckland Island’s forest understorey is stripped bare; ground-nesting species like the Auckland teal and yellow-eyed penguin have been pushed to the brink, and even the cries of albatross can seldom be heard as their chicks fall prey to predators that aren’t supposed to be there.
However, there is hope. Maukahuka, the Pest-Free Auckland Island initiative, is one of the most ambitious conservation projects we’ve seen in decades, which aims to rid the 46,000-hectare island of pigs, cats and mice in just eight years.
Led by the New Zealand Department of Conservation (DOC) in partnership with Ngāi Tahu, Island Conservation and Predator Free NZ, the plan is the final piece in a 30-year campaign to restore New Zealand’s Subantarctic Islands.
“This is a legacy project,” says Rob McCallum, founder of EYOS and an ambassador for the New Zealand Nature Fund. “It’s one of those rare initiatives that will give all participants something to be proud of for the rest of their lives. It’s ambitious, audacious even, but achievable.”
For McCallum, the motivation is deeply personal. “Watching albatross dance on the winds around the island is a life-altering experience,” he reflects. “Visiting their nesting areas and seeing the destruction created by introduced pests is heartbreaking, but it became my central motivation for getting involved.”
The scale of the damage is staggering. Pigs uproot rātā forests and devour the island’s signature brightly coloured megaherbs, and feral cats stalk the island’s ridgelines, hunting seabird chicks with ruthless efficiency.
And mice, which were initially thought to pose minimal threat, have been filmed gnawing the skulls of live albatross chicks. “It has to stop,” says McCallum. “We have a responsibility to return the island to its pre-human state.”
More than 25 native bird species have already stopped breeding on the main island. Some, like the endemic Auckland rail, survive only on tiny predator-free offshore islets. The ecological fragility is such that, in McCallum’s words, “we now literally have our eggs in fewer baskets”.
Logistically, the removal of pests from Maukahuka will be a feat of modern conservation engineering. Located 251 nautical miles from the New Zealand mainland, Auckland Island is battered by gale-force winds, draped in dense vegetation and laced with cliffs.
“The rugged topography and heavy seas make the island perfect for albatross and penguins, but much more challenging for operations,” says McCallum.
From 2017 to 2021, extensive feasibility studies and R&D trials were conducted to develop new techniques, including pig-specific toxins, cat-targeted lures and mouse-bait distribution methods tailored to the island’s complex terrain.
AI image classification and GPS surveillance will help track success. At the same time, remote operational bases, including the planned camp on the east coast at Falla Peninsula, will support teams on the ground.
The eradication process will occur in three phases, one for each pest species, followed by a two-year period of intensive monitoring. “We’ll deploy AI-enabled cameras, use helicopters to distribute bait, work with detection dogs and data-based trials to confirm success,” explains McCallum. “Once we’ve had two years without pest sightings, the island will be formally declared pest-free.”
If the Maukahuka project succeeds, the transformation will be almost immediate. “The recovery begins with the vegetation,” says McCallum. “In the very next summer, penguins and albatross that return annually to breed will have vastly higher success rates. The change is transformational; I call it a genesis moment.”
Beyond the sheer ecological joy of seeing seabird colonies return by the million, the benefits ripple outward. The island will once again serve as a carbon sink and climate buffer.
Coastal waters will thrive as nutrient cycles stabilise. Perhaps most importantly, the knowledge gained from Maukahuka can be applied globally, from the subantarctic to the tropics.
Ethical questions inevitably arise around large-scale eradications, but for McCallum, the moral clarity is clear. “The pests were introduced by humans.
Their presence here is unnatural and has caused untold suffering. Our experience on other islands shows that native species rebound almost immediately when the pressure is lifted.”
Of course, a project of this scale requires considerable support. “The project requires additional funding of US$47.5 million (£35m), which can be routed through the New Zealand Nature Fund as a tax-free donation,” says McCallum.
“Every donation will go directly to the project. Maukahuka is a rare opportunity to prevent extinctions – and for donors, there’s the chance to see their philanthropy in action.”
Primary donors will have the opportunity to visit the island before, during and after the restoration to see first-hand the impact of their involvement. “It’s an emotional and powerful thing to witness,” says McCallum. “Some donors want to remain anonymous; others may want naming rights or long-term partnerships. We’re open to any conversation.”
Maukahuka is not just a conservation project, it is a commitment to reverse human error, to regenerate a lost world, and to prove that even the most remote and damaged places can recover. In an era of accelerating biodiversity loss, projects like Maukahuka offer a unique legacy; the slow rewilding of a battered yet beautiful island on the edge of the world.
As McCallum puts it: “This is our chance to hit the reset button. And if we succeed, it will be one of the most extraordinary conservation victories the planet has ever seen.”
First published in the September 2025 issue of BOAT International. Get this magazine sent straight to your door, or subscribe and never miss an issue.