Tiaki Pekapeka
Tiaki Pekapeka is a collaborative kaupapa developed by Community Waitākere to discover, celebrate, and protect pekapeka through weaving together technology, education, citizen science, mātauranga Māori, and community action.
Pekapeka are thought to have come from the Rarohenga or the underworld, with one Māori pūrakau stating they returned to the living world with Mataora and Niwareka.
Instructed to hide in dark corners and gloomy haunts, pekapeka are associated with the mythical, night flying bird hōkioi, which foretells death or disaster.
The long-tailed bat (Chalinolobus tuberculatus) is the only endemic bat species currently known to exist on the mainland in Tāmaki Makaurau. Their habitat spreads from the forest areas of Te Wao Nui o Tiriwa (Waitākere Ranges), up through the rural lands on Kumeū, Huapai and then on through Woodhill and Riverhead forests.
What can you do to protect pekapeka?
Learn all about them, then tell everyone you know!
Join a bat walk with a local conservation group, or host your own.
Keep cats inside at night.
Join Predator Free NZ to help reduce the numbers of introduced predators.
Rejuvenate local streams, where their food grows and they hunt.
Help to protect large trees that bats might roost in, not just native ones!
We are committed to growing Tiaki Pekapeka by continuing to develop these initiatives and cultivating meaningful partnerships and networks.
If you are interested in getting involved in this space, we encourage you to join your local pest-free or environmental group.