The fifth series of Meet the Locals videos

The kākā is one of New Zealand’s native parrots. Despite being hammered by predators such as cats, rats and stoats, these inquisitive birds are making a comeback on predator-free offshore islands.

This video is about black petrels – a seabird that breeds on the top of Mount Hobson on Great Barrier Island. Learn how these relatively small birds fly as far away as Peru to find food.

The tale of the black robin is probably our most famous conservation story. The dedication that led to the return of this population from just one viable female, Old Blue, has inspired people throughout the globe.

This video is about Boundary Stream - a Mainland Island designed to protect our native wildlife from pests. Find out about all the work that goes into creating and maintaining a Mainland Island.

The Edwards kids love their bugs. This video shows how they find interesting native insects to study, and why they’re mad about insects.

This video shows how hunting on the West Coast can be tough work, with long walks, steep terrain, as well as one of the most difficult animals in New Zealand to hunt, the introduced Himalayan tahr.

The Kaweka Forest Park is home to fantastic examples of pioneering huts, built from simple materials that our ancestors found around them in the bush.

The creation of a new private conservation project at Cape Kidnappers is fantastic news for kiwi in the Hawke's Bay.

This video is about the Cape Sanctuary in the Hawke's Bay, where local landowners are working hard to get over 2500 hectares of our natural environment back to full health.

By the early 1900s the buff weka had become extinct in their home-range of eastern Canterbury and Otago. But, through a stroke of luck, 12 birds had been introduced to the Chatham Islands in 1905.

The Chatham petrel is a seabird that is threatened because its neighbours, another seabird – the broad-billed prion – pushes it out of its burrows. Watch this video to find out more.

The chevron skink is New Zealand’s longest lizard, reaching over 30cm in length, yet its survival and very existence has remained a mystery for much of the last century.

Because our native forest evolved without native grazing mammals, deer have been a long-term problem for our natural heritage. This video shows how deer are removed from Fiordland.

New Zealand dotterels are now one of our rarest birds due to their love of coastal habitat which in summer happens to be the favourite playground of many people, not to mention introduced predators.

Weeds in New Zealand are sometimes underrated as a pest. On Te Hauturu-o-Toi/Little Barrier Island weeding can mean some extreme antics, including abseiling off a cliff to get inaccessible weeds.

The fairy tern is New Zealand’s most endangered birds, with only around thirty birds in existence. Auckland Zoo keeps their precious eggs safe from bad weather, predators and disturbance.

With only around 40 left, the NZ fairy tern is one of NZ's most endangered birds. Find out how DOC and local schoolchildren are trying to protect them.

The Ford Creek Chasm on the West Coast is a natural wonder. Learn how the steep sandstone cliffs, carved by the creek, create a picturesque path under a canopy of native forest.

Researchers are learning more about the takapu or Australasian gannet by tracking their flight patterns to discover where they like to fish.

The Australasian gannet or takapu has been nesting at Cape Kidnappers in the Hawke’s Bay since the 1870s. Learn about the largest mainland gannet colony on earth.

The godwit has broken all migration records for the world’s longest non-stop flight – from New Zealand to Alaska in just one week! Watch this video to find out how they do it.

Te Hauturu-o-Toi or Little Barrier Island, near Auckland, has been described as the ‘jewel in the crown’ of New Zealand’s protected islands. Watch this video to see why it’s so special.

Hihi are one of NZ's rarest birds, and became extinct on the mainland over a hundred years ago. Luckily, the island of Te Hauturu-o-Toi/Little Barrier remained free from most predators, and has been a lifeboat for their survival.

This video shows how the removal of rats from Te Hauturu-o-Toi/Little Barrier Island has cleared the way for tuatara as well as many other native species to thrive in the kind of place New Zealand once was.

Not many kids are lucky enough to have a glacier and a rainforest in their backyards but for school kids in Franz Josef, it's part of their daily life. This video is about kids getting to be a ranger for a day.

Kaiaraara Dam is an excellent example of the kauri industry that thrived here almost a hundred years ago. Find out how locals built this enormous dam, without the benefit of modern technology.

Watch a video about a nature walk with some keen kids in the bush on Great Barrier Island, with the ultimate reward for any sore feet – a soak in the Kaitoke Hot Springs!

The kea, known to many of us for its high altitude antics, is in trouble. Once common around the South Island mountains, it is now thought to number only around a few thousand birds.

A combined effort by the local community has created the Opouahi Pan Pac kiwi crèche – a predator-proof area for young kiwi. This video shows how the crèche protects kiwi chicks in the Hawke’s Bay.

At the Opouahi Pan Pac Kiwi Creche in Hawke's Bay, an important part of saving the kiwi is educating youngsters. This video shows a kiwi plunket health check.

Koi carp are sometimes known as ‘possums of the waterways’ due to the destruction they create for native freshwater plants and wildlife. This video shows how bow-hunters are targeting these pests.

In 2005, the long-cherished dream of Mangaroa/Ohotu Trust to hear kōkako on their land came true. Learn how iwi in this area near Opotiki reintroduced kokako to their ngahere (forest).

In 1908 the Milford Track was described in a London newspaper as the ‘finest walk in the world’ and, 100 years on, it remains a spectacular way to experience an incredible natural landscape.

Every summer, at the tiny settlement of Miranda in the Firth of Thames, thousands of birds from all around the globe fly in to feast at the mudflats and rest after their incredible journeys.

Kids at Okiwi Primary school on Great Barrier Island are involved in protecting their natural heritage. Watch this video on how these kids look after their environment.

The parea is one of the largest pigeons in the world. Closely related to the kererū, this species dropped to around fifty birds in the 1980s. Learn how people on the Chathams protect it.

Great Barrier Island is home to one of the few populations of brown teal or pāteke in the country. This video is about a ranger and her dog who protect pāteke.

Pest fish present a huge problem to our fresh waterways as they suffocate native water plants and animals. Learn about some of the worst offenders and why they’re such a problem.

New Zealand is a real hotspot for marine mammals, with over half of the world’s species of dolphins and whales appearing in our waters. This video is about how people learn to rescue stranded whales.

In the isolated Chatham Islands local Moriori practised the art of tree-carving or rakau momori. Learn about some of the fascinating ‘dendroglyphs’ that still exist in the forest at Hāpūpū.

The island of Rangatira in the Chathams is a nature reserve teeming with native wildlife. This video shows some of the highlights of the natural world of Rangatira.

In this video Nic visits the home of NZ's rarest kiwi - the critically endangered rowi (formerly Ōkārito brown kiwi) on the South Island's west coast.

Helicopter pilot Kim Hollows was so inspired by the Fiordland landscape that he made a film and then built the theatre to play it in. Learn why and find out about his current work with the Fiordland Conservation Trust.

The Chatham Islands is home to New Zealand's rarest bird, the taiko, or magenta petrel. Watch this video to find out how DOC protects it from predators.

Moriori people once hunted the taiko but by the time Europeans arrived on the Chathams this seabird was thought to be extinct.

Takahē were only rediscovered in 1948 and remain among our rarest birds. Thanks to high flyers like the chicks in this video, takahē can once again roam the Murchison Mountains in Fiordland.

Cuvier Island tuatara are extremely rare and some are raised in captivity at Auckland Zoo. Find out what is involved in getting these long-lived reptiles back into the wild.

Gold was discovered at Waiuta, near Greymouth in 1905 and within a few years a new town had popped up. This video is about how Jimmy Martin discovered gold here over a hundred years ago.

The kōtuku is dear to the hearts of many New Zealanders with its beautiful white plumage and elegant silhouette. The only place it breeds is at the Waitangiroto Nature Reserve on the West Coast

The use of innovative new technology means our rarest kiwi – the rowi on the West Coast, now has a far greater chance of survival.