Efforts to save the rare, endangered Whio, or blue duck, have doubled with the formation of a new partnership between the Department of Conservation and Genesis Energy.
The Whio, which features on the $10 note, is only found in clean, fast-flowing rivers and streams, and is seen as an indicator species and an icon for the environmental health of New Zealand’s back country waterways.
The $2.5 million partnership has evolved over the past eight years through the Whio recovery programme in the Tongariro area, and will see DOC and Genesis Energy work together for the next five years, to double the number of secure Whio breeding sites across the country.
