An enthusiastic effort is being undertaken by a whole-hearted community group whose passion is to preserve and protect the popular and beautiful Muri Lagoon in Ngatangiia.
The inland mountains of Rarotonga maintain one of the most pristine tropical forests in the Central South Pacific. Gerald McCormack of Cook Islands Natural Heritage Trust explains why.
Rarotonga’s native flora has nearly disappeared from the island’s coast, a 150-metre ascent into the mountains required to find thriving examples of its original ecosystem. The only other place is a nursery in Matavera.
On the 30th of August, Maureen Goodwin saw two unusual birds on her inland Muri lawn. She googled and identified them as Australian Southern Lapwings rather than the Northern due to the black ‘ei kakī (collar). Over the next few days, they fed, ran over the lawn, and flew around the area, writes Gerald McCormack, director of Cook Islands Natural Heritage Trust.