Protecting what makes this place wild
Spanning 850,000 hectares, Southern Lakes Sanctuary is one of New Zealand’s most ambitious conservation projects. We’re restoring and safeguarding the unique biodiversity of this special part of Aotearoa.
Where hope grows for nature
Behind the stunning lakes, rivers, and mountains of the Wānaka, Hāwea and Whakatipu catchments, a quiet battle is underway. Introduced predators have pushed many native species to the brink, putting intense pressure on these fragile and unique ecosystems.
Yet amid the challenge, hope is building.
Across alpine peaks, braided rivers and ancient beech forests, dedicated people and groups are uniting with a shared goal: to give nature a fighting chance.
A collaborative force for change
Southern Lakes Sanctuary is a consortium of six local groups, representing over 100 community organisations, landowners, and businesses.
For years, hundreds of dedicated volunteers have worked to restore biodiversity and protect our natural taonga. Their tireless mahi laid the groundwork for today’s united, landscape-scale conservation effort.
Together, we focus on predator control, threatened species recovery, biodiversity monitoring and community involvement to protect native taonga.
Smart conservation, powered by people
We blend innovation and community to restore the wild heart of the Southern Lakes.
Using tools like eDNA monitoring, smart traps and AI species recognition, our predator control is more targeted and effective than ever. We focus on creating intensively trapped core areas, buffered and linked by wildlife corridors that reconnect fragmented habitats.
But people power this progress.
Across the region, volunteers, landowners and local groups are the engine of change. Through hands-on conservation and education, we’re growing a grassroots movement rooted in care for the whenua.
Together, we’re not just protecting what’s left – we’re bringing nature back.
Our Vision
Flourishing te taiao through action, leadership and collaboration
Consortium Members
Southern Lakes Sanctuary is a collaboration of six local groups, representing over 100 community organisations, landowners, and businesses. Backed by hundreds of dedicated volunteers, they work together to protect and restore the region’s biodiversity.
Forest & Bird, Central Otago Lakes Branch
Forest & Bird’s Central Otago-Lakes Branch began trapping in the Makarora Valley in the late 1990s to protect a small mōhua population. The programme has since expanded significantly but remains volunteer-led.
This work follows the Makarora Predator Control Operational Plan — a partnership between Forest & Bird and the Department of Conservation, developed in 2017 to protect threatened native plants and wildlife in the valley.
The plan’s core focus remains mohua, with secondary goals of protecting other forest birds and remnant podocarp forest.
Whakatipu Wildlife Trust
The Whakatipu Wildlife Trust (WWT) was established in 2017 at the request of the Department of Conservation and Queenstown Lakes District Council to support and grow the Whakatipu basin’s predator-free efforts.
The Trust now coordinates over 70 community trapping groups working toward a predator-free Whakatipu. Its vision is to foster new groups, support existing ones, and educate the wider community on how everyone can help native wildlife thrive.
WWT acts as both a unifying body for local trapping groups and a partner in larger projects like the Southern Lakes Sanctuary.
Mātakitaki Conservation Group
The Mātakitaki Conservation Group (MCG) is a coalition of 11 landowner, community and tourism groups working across the Mātakitaki/Matukituki catchment. Together, they maintain traplines along nearly the entire river.
Their efforts cover a wide range of habitats—from alpine snow tussock and beech forest in the West and East Mātakitaki, to braided river systems alongside pastoral grasslands in the lower reaches.
Routeburn Dart Wildlife Trust
Since 2013, the Routeburn Dart Wildlife Trust has worked to protect a range of species in the Routeburn and Dart Valleys. In partnership with the Department of Conservation, tourism operators, local communities and generous sponsors, the Trust maintains multiple trap-lines near Glenorchy — from the valley floor to alpine zones.
Projects include protecting rock wren in the Harris Saddle and Hollyford Valley, stopping hedgehog invasions along both sides of Lake Wakatipu, and trapping around the Dart and Rees braided rivers to safeguard native river birds.
Predator Free Wānaka
Predator Free Wānaka (formerly Wānaka Backyard Trapping) was founded by volunteers in early 2018 to protect local indigenous wildlife through trapping and community education.
Seven volunteer groups maintain traplines on public land from Wānaka to Hāwea to Luggate, covering the shores of lakes, rivers, and lagoons. They run workshops, events and education initiatives to empower Upper Clutha’s urban and peri-urban communities to trap in their own backyards.
SOHO Properties Ltd
Motatapu Station is one of four high country sheep stations west of Wānaka, owned by Soho Property Ltd. In 2015, QEII covenants were established across these properties—Motatapu, Soho, Glencoe, and Coronet Peak Stations—creating a 53,000-hectare protected area known as the Mahu Whenua Open Space Covenants.
These covenants aim to protect natural values in perpetuity, with the long-term goal of forming an open-country “national park” on historically farmed Crown pastoral lease land. The Mahu Whenua vision centres on ecosystem restoration and biodiversity recovery.
Conservation efforts at Motatapu combine habitat restoration with predator control. A trapping programme has been active in the Motatapu and its tributary valleys since October 2009.