In mid-July 2007, Dr Avi Holzapfel took up the role of Kiwi Recovery Group leader.

One of the first things Avi plans to do is take a fresh look at the group’s membership and how it works.  “Recovery planning brings together a mix of experts and people who have good links with on-the-ground technical expertise and management, to make decisions based on good understanding of all issues.  The kiwi recovery group has always been really well served by a strong mix of skills and expertise from within the Department of Conservation, communities and other places, and this is vital when faced with such a big complex project as kiwi – there’s simply too much for a single person or organisation to deal with and we rely on a broad range of skills and links.   My arrival in this job is a chance to look again at how the recovery group works, how it wants (and needs) to work” Avi says.

Avi is no newcomer to recovery groups (he led the dactylanthus (wood rose) and native frog recovery groups for several years), but he is new to kiwi, and it’s a steep learning curve. “The first wee while will be focused on learning and understanding the technical issues facing kiwi as well as the networks involved.  Kiwi recovery is varied and large and multi-faceted, and achieved by so many projects happening in so many places, done by the Department and communities and zoos and others – so to get my head around all of that will be a challenge.”

Other priority jobs on the list are finalising the Kiwi Recovery Plan, and making sure the recovery group understands recent changes to Bank of New Zealand Save the Kiwi Trust’s funding strategy which now gives priority to threatened species.

“I also want to look at some of the very large projects that are underway, for example, the five kiwi sanctuaries, so that we can be confident they are ready for the next five to ten years.”

Before he took on his new role, Avi worked in the Department of Conservation’s Waikato Conservancy as its advisory scientist and supervising other staff working on biodiversity.  A German migrant, he has lived in New Zealand for 13 years, an ambition that arose after his first visit here as a young graduate.  “I met good friends and fell in love with the country.”  Three trips later, with a wife and family in tow, Avi settled down in Hamilton and began working toward his doctorate on dactylanthus.  “We put down small roots, made friends, found schools etc. and haven’t moved since.”