Hark: Listening for Birds and Climate Change in Waitōtara
Tututawa, New Zealand
Hark is a conservation technology developed by the 800 Trust that uses AI-powered acoustic sensors to "listen" to the forest, detecting native bird calls, pest species, and environmental change. It enables large-scale biodiversity monitoring across remote areas, helping protect threatened ecosystems before it’s too late.
This project’s initial focus is on the Waitōtara and Matemateāonga Ranges in Aotearoa New Zealand, regions where species like kōkako may still survive. By continuously recording forest soundscapes, Hark is able to identify rare birds, understand species movements, and track forest health. This protects what remains, guides restoration, and builds scientific evidence for climate resilience.
Hark also collects microclimate data, enabling the study of how changing weather patterns affect biodiversity over time. This adds a valuable layer of insight into climate adaptation and environmental planning.
While Environmental Protection is their core focus, Hark also supports Community Activation and Cultural Collaboration, working closely with locals, especially Ngāti Maru, blending Indigenous knowledge with leading-edge technology. Young people help deploy sensors, interpret findings, and tell the story of our forests.
Hark offers a powerful model for listening, to the land, to each other, and to the changes around us. It turns remote wilderness into a living dataset, helping protect the planet through knowledge, action, and care. Their goals are threefold:
- Restore biodiversity by identifying strongholds of rare birds like the kōkako, long-tailed cuckoo, and even potentially rediscovered species.
- Empower community and iwi (tribal) involvement, especially rangatahi (youth), in conservation and data analysis.
- Inform global adaptation efforts by measuring changes in seasonal bird patterns, temperature, and soundscape diversity.
Located in the heart of the East Taranaki hill country, this work supports a vision for a pest-free corridor linking Whanganui National Park to the Matemateāonga Ranges. It also contributes to international biodiversity credit conversations by quantifying environmental restoration through sound. By listening deeply, Hark allows forgotten ecosystems to speak and helps communities act on what they hear.
Through the support of the Purpose Earth grant, the project’s small, rural team can expand a big idea, giving nature a voice. It allows us to place more listening devices in the forest, train more young people, and protect species that might otherwise go unheard. This support helps us prove that community led conservation can create global impact. Specifically, Purpose Earth funds will be used to:
- Purchase components and materials for assembling 20 new Hark devices, including solar power systems, microphones, memory, and weatherproof housing.
- Support research and data collection by equipping rangatahi (youth) with essential field safety gear, such as boots, hi-vis vests, and backpacks, so they can participate safely in acoustic monitoring and data retrieval.
- Expand our acoustic library of bird calls and seasonal soundscapes, contributing to both scientific knowledge and cultural revitalisation, as many native bird calls are deeply connected to Māori language, stories, and place-based identity.
This grant is a catalyst, enabling the 800 Trust to expand its biodiversity corridor work, support young people into conservation careers, and contribute valuable real-time data to our research partners and community decision-makers. Importantly, it aligns directly with our mission: to give voice to nature, reconnect people to place, and use emerging technology to protect endangered wildlife and landscapes.
“The Hark system is designed to scale. As more devices are added and more young people are trained, the network grows more powerful, offering a living, listening archive of environmental change. Our goal is not just one season of insight, but the building of an intergenerational monitoring system for climate, biodiversity, and hope. This grant will help us establish infrastructure, community skills, and partnerships that will carry Hark forward sustainably, rooted in local leadership, scientific integrity, and deep respect for the land."
- Miranda Wells, Project Lead
Maasai Ngosuani Greening Project
Resiliency Through the Ages (RTA)
