Hawke's Bay hosts annual kiwi conference

Our national bird is the talk of the town this week as Hawke's Bay hosts the annual Kiwi Hui, starting today.

The two-day conference was organised by BNZ Save the Kiwi Trust and the Department of Conservation.

Trust executive director Michelle Impey said the hui was a chance for people to share ideas for protecting kiwi.

"It's a good way to get people together to hear about new projects around the country," she said. "People can discuss challenges like dog attacks and talk about how to handle them."

About 140 people would attend, including representatives from Hawke's Bay kiwi programmes such as Westshore Wildlife Reserve, Cape Sanctuary, Boundary Stream and Maungataniwha.

"There are certain areas in the country that have very strong collaboration and Hawke's Bay is one of them," Ms Impey said.

"There's a good range of projects, from captive programmes to EcoEd's kiwi creche."