WHAT WE ARE ABOUT

Kokako Lodge was set up and established in 1990 by the Stuart Family. The centre was eventually purchased by the Auckland Regional Council in 1995 and run by one of the local Park Rangers. In 2000 the Auckland Regional Council signed a lease agreement with the Kokako Lodge Trust to run the Hunua Environment and Outdoor Education Centre to be known as Kokako Lodge. Kokako Lodge opened with a fantastic open day in the presence of the then Prime Minister Helen Clark.

MISSION

· To achieve educational and personal excellence through outdoor pursuits

VISION

· Provide young people with the opportunity to recognise and achieve their potential.

VALUES

  • Natural and cultural heritage
  • Positive learning environment
  • Learning through experience
  • Leadership

As part of the licence agreement with the Auckland Council, custodianship of Kokako Lodge was given to the Kokako Lodge Trust to work with the AIMHI schools to promote outdoor education and support improved educational outcomes for students in AIMHI schools. 

AIMHI (Achievement in Multi Cultural High Schools) is a group of ten decile one urban secondary schools where a large proportion of the schools’ student population come from Maori and Pacific Islands backgrounds.

For more detailed information on the AIMHI Group of schools, please view their website www.aimhi.ac.nz

Extra income generated from other user groups - predominantly from the community and corporate sectors - to help provide students from AIMHI schools with accessible outdoor education opportunities they may otherwise miss out on.

The Kokako Lodge Trust is a not-for-profit organisation that relies on grants and donations to maintain the high standards we set for ourselves.

Current Trust members include:

  • Local business representatives
  • AIMHI principals
  • Auckland Regional Council
  • Botany East Tamaki Rotary
  • Interested citizens

Current Staff and Instructors

At Kokako Lodge we maintain a keen focus on the environment. We believe in promoting and implementing a sustainable approach to caring for our local environment. We actively support the Auckland Regional Council recovery program in the Hunua Falls area. We provide labour and support to help this great project happen and go out every week to work towards the return of the kokako to the Hunua Falls area.

We appreciate your support for Kokako Lodge and hope that you will select us as your first choice of outdoor education venue. Remember - coming to Kokako Lodge helps us to help the environment and the local community as well as shape the leaders of tomorrow.

HOW WE GOT OUR NAME

The kokako is an inspirational New Zealand native bird. It is their ability to fight back from the brink of extinction that inspires us. The kokako belongs to the endemic New Zealand wattlebirds (Callaeidae), an ancient family of birds which includes the North and South Island saddleback and the extinct huia. The kokako is the only member of its family still surviving on the mainland. A dark bluish-grey bird with a long tail and short wings, it has a pair of brightly coloured, fleshy "wattles" extending from either side of its gape to meet below the neck. There are two sub-species of kokako, the North Island kokako (Callaeas cinerea wilsoni) and the South Island kokako (C. c. cinerea).

The North Island kokako has blue wattles, while the South Island kokako has orange or yellow wattles. The bird is not particularly good at flying and prefers to use its powerful legs to leap and run through the forest. The North Island kokako is found mainly in mature podocarp-hardwood forests. There are fewer than 400 pairs that occur in several isolated populations in the central and northern North Island. In the last 20 years, there has been a marked decline in numbers of North Island kokako, although management is reversing that trend in many areas now.

South Island kokako are currently assumed to be extinct, although it is possible they may survive in low numbers in remote parts of the South Island and Stewart Island.

Kokako are renowned for the clarity and volume of their song which carries far across the forest. In the early morning, a pair may sing a duet for up to half an hour with other kokako joining in to form a "bush choir". Male and female are similar in colour and size (weighing about 230 grams). They protect large territories (eight hectares) by singing and chasing away invaders. They eat leaves, fern-fronds, flowers, fruit and invertebrates.

In Maori myth, it was the kokako that gave Maui water as he fought the sun. The kokako filled its wattles with water and brought it to Maui. His thirst quenched, Maui rewarded the kokako by making its legs long and slender, enabling the bird to bound through the forest with ease in search of food.

With that in mind, we strive every day to achieve our mission and vision, while holding strong to our values.