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The Tuku Nature Reserve lies in the Tuku-a-tamatea (Tuku) River Valley in the south-west of the island of Rekohu, the main island in New Zealand’s Chatham Islands group in the south-west Pacific Ocean. It is important for the conservation of the critically endangered magenta petrel (Pterodroma magentae), or Chatham Island taiko, a small burrow-nesting seabird. The reserve is based on 1238 ha of land still largely covered with dense native forest, donated by Manuel and Evelyn Tuanui for the conservation management of the taiko, with adjacent land covenanted for the same purpose.
Flora and fauna
The reserve comprises an area of forested, peat-covered tableland dissected by the Tuku River and its tributaries and dominated by tarahinau. The valley also contains kopi, karamu, hoho and matipo, with abundant tree ferns. As well as the taiko, the reserve is important for the conservation of other animals and plants endemic to the Chatham Islands, such as the parea or Chatham Islands pigeon.