Leonardo DiCaprio posted about kiwi conservation this week to his 62 million Instagram followers. Photo: RNZ / AFP
Celebrities talking about New Zealand's conservation efforts has been a boon for the birds, bringing in more than a million dollars in donations.
On Wednesday, American actor Leonardo DiCaprio praised The Capital Kiwi Project, which traps predators and releases kiwi in a large block of land in the Wellington region, to his 62.1 million followers on Instagram.
Leonardo DiCaprio posted on his Instagram about the Capital Kiwi project in Wellington. Photo: Screenshot
It has released 110 kiwi in Wellington and Porirua so far, and plans to release 16 more into the Karori bush next week.
Since then, Capital Kiwi has gained thousands of new followers on Instagram, and founder Paul Ward told RNZ there had been a spike in donations with hundreds of dollars coming since then.
DiCaprio has also previously posted about the hatching of 18 kakī chicks as part of a Department of Conservation project.
The @docgovtnz reports that 18 Kakī chicks hatched as part of their conservation breeding program between December 24 and December 28. This is an unusually high number and a boon for the world’s rarest wading bird. ( : Liz Brown/DOC) pic.twitter.com/4z9p6UBPoT
— Leonardo DiCaprio (@LeoDiCaprio) January 10, 2022
Emma Dent from The Nature Conservancy Aotearoa New Zealand said it can be hard for conservation organisations to get recognition for the work that they do.
"Anything that generates positive focus on a project is welcome.
"Comment from people with the high profile of Leonardo DiCaprio, who are champions of nature, are certainly a good way of drawing attention to an issue when it is something that the person cares deeply about, and we can see that it aligns with their values."
Last year, BBC's Our Frozen Planet aired a 12-minute short film about the Conservancy's project restoring habitats and protecting threatened species.
"This created great interest in the project as it helps to bring it to life for prospective donors," Dent said.
"We've had a couple of bigger and unexpected international donations coming in since the programme screened, and hundreds of thousands of views."
A shot from US comedian John Oliver's segment on New Zealand's Bird of the Year on 5 November 2023. Photo: Screengrab
John Oliver's bird bid a million-dollar boon
Forest and Bird has now received $1,180,000 since British comedian John Oliver campaigned for the pūteketeke to win Bird of the Century last year.
The campaign included billboard advertisements in New Zealand, England, France, India and the United States, promotion on his show Last Week Tonight and an appearance on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon dressed in full-on grebe garb.
Chief executive Nicola Toki said the campaign shone a global light on the threats faced by our native birdlife, and tens of thousands of people from 195 countries voted and donated as a result.
"We had lots more people involved in learning more about our birds, what threatens them, and therefore what we need to do to look after them."
Toki said she was not surprised that New Zealand had gained global attention for our wildlife, especially from celebrities like Oliver or DiCaprio, but said it should serve as a reminder that the world is watching how we take care of them.
"The rest of the world are very interested in our weird and wonderful native wildlife, particularly our birds, here in New Zealand, and they kind of expect that we're looking after them.
"It's important to acknowledge that we are in a bit of a precarious state with nature in New Zealand at the moment, and that is something that we should not lose sight of."
The most recent New Zealand Environment Survey by Manaaki Whenua - Landcare Research showed there was a disconnect between perceptions and the actual state of the environment.
"The trend over the last 10 years has been that more and more of our species are becoming threatened," Toki said.
"We've become a bit lackadaisical, and over the last decade or so, we seem to think that our wildlife's doing well.
"Turns out it's not, and that's because not enough people are engaged with what's really happening.
"That's important from a national perspective, but also internationally as well when it comes to our reputation."
'They're so important to us'
Two kiwi North Island brown kiwi chicks have hatched in the Wellington wilderness for the first time in 150 years. Photo: Supplied/Capital Kiwi Project
Paul Ward from Capital Kiwi said it was surreal waking up to a bunch of notifications to see that Leonardo DiCaprio had "shared our kaupapa to his 60 million followers on social media".
"As well as reaching a huge global audience, it made me feel very proud for the work that the team, and communities, and iwi, and landowners have put into the project over the last seven or eight years.
"There's a lot of challenges that we are facing, both in our own lives and on the world stage, and this is a story of hope, and showing what is possible when people put aside their differences and work together around a shared goal.
"I think that is why it has been picked up by our new friend Leonardo, and others - The New York Times and The Guardian did a piece a couple of weeks ago.
"Another factor is just how utterly unique kiwi are too, as animals.
"There's a reason why they're a cherished part of our identity, and why they're so important to us as a people."
