Start of the Trip - CollingwoodKaramea - Heaphy TrackRolling River, WangapekaMurchison, New ZealandLewis passArthurs PassRakaia RiverLake Clearwater, New ZealandLake Ohau, New ZealandWanaka, New ZealandArrowtown, New ZealandTe Anau, New ZealandTuatapere, New ZealandTe Waewae Bay
 | walk4kiwis |  | A long walk to Save the Kiwis |  | Start of the Trip - Collingwood |
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Jan 7 2010, 11:00 PM
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Collingwood, New Zealand
Wearing a T-shirt printed with the words "A Long Walk to Save the Kiwi" and his Kiwi "mascot" Tiri te Kiwi tied onto his backpack, Mr Lehndorf set off on his 1250km walk yesterday, from the start of the Heaphy Track in Golden Bay.
Mr Lehndorf, who celebrated his 60th birthday on Wednesday, anticipates that the walk, mostly off-road, will take him three months. He is raising money for community conservation group Friends of Flora which, with Department of Conservation support, is planning to return great spotted kiwi (roroa) to the Flora.
It is aimed to move up to 14 great spotted kiwi – seven pairs – there from the Boulder Lake-Clark River area of the national park.
Mr Lehndorf hopes to raise $10,000 from the walk through sponsorship and says "every cent raised" will go directly towards the kiwi project.
"The walk has taken six months to plan, but from now on I'll just be thinking one day at a time.
"What the group (Friends of Flora) is doing is incredible and I want to do everything I possibly can to help with the kiwi re-introduction," he said.
Friends of Flora representative Chris Potter said the 60-member group was grateful to all those who had supported them with donations, bequests and grants to raise the $24,000 needed to move kiwi to the Flora. A further $72,000 needs to be raised for the three-year project.
Mr Potter said the money was partly to pay for the cost of helicopter transport for the kiwi recovery rangers with specialist dogs.
"It will be great for everyone who knows or visits the Flora area to have kiwi there again," said Mr Potter, who plans to join Mr Lehndorf for a section of the walk.
If the project is successful, visitors to the Flora Stream area might hear the call of the kiwi from the middle of next year but those visiting this summer may be lucky enough to spot blue duck.
Blue duck (whio) numbers have been on the rise in Flora Stream since Friends of Flora began carrying out predator trapping there nine years ago, linking with DOC pest control. Sixteen whio were counted on Flora Stream below Flora Hut during a survey there last month by Friends of Flora members and a DOC ranger.
Whio numbers had been driven down by introduced predators, especially stoats, before the trapping programme began.
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Friends of Flora currently maintains more than 65 kilometres of trap lines over 5000 hectares. Other native bird species are also benefiting from the reduction in pests. Weka are seen more frequently, some currently with chicks, and monitoring is showing increases in bellbirds, riflemen and tomtits.
Further information on the walk and the kiwi project is available on fof.org.nz.
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