After starting Ark in the Park in the Waitakere Ranges, John Sumich went on and started Habitat te Henga, protecting Auckland's largest wetland. It involved trapping for stoats to enable the re-introduction of pāteke (brown teal) in 2015 and 2016. Matuku were known to be present at te Henga but acoustic recordings were initiated to gain an idea of their number. Since then, John has been on a mission to gather information on the number of bittern nationally - as they are cryptic and highly mobile, not an easy task.
He started the "OK Boomer" campaign, connected with national and international bittern researchers, reached out to wetland groups and has now with others, formed the Bittern Conservation Trust.
John will be giving an overview of the importance of wetlands for these birds as well as for people, and how you can engage with the important survey to learn more about this intriguing bird.