The Department of Conservation plans to re-establish colonies of rare seabirds in Hawke's Bay, thanks to a major donation from an American businessman.
Julian Robertson, who established the largest privately owned wildlife sanctuary in New Zealand on Cape Kidnappers station, has donated almost $1 million to DoC for the project.
DoC Hawke's Bay Manager Jan Hania says half the $930,000 will be used to relocate Cook's, grey-faced and mottled petrels from offshore islands to a predator-free sanctuary inland from Lake Tutira.
He says money will also be spent on developing breeding populations of threatened species such as kiwi, kaka, kokako and kakariki, in selected sites across Hawke's Bay.
It's an ambitious programme, Mr Hania says, and it wouldn't have gone ahead without financial assistance from the private sector.