The Tuku Nature Reserve lies in the Tuku-a-tamatea (Tuku) River Valley in the south-west of the island of Rekohu

Chatham Island/Rekohu

Chatham Island is by far the largest island of the Chatham Islands group, in the south Pacific Ocean off the eastern coast of New Zealand, — not exactly "halfway between the equator and the pole, and right on the International Date Line" but close enough for tourism marketing purposes...

, the main island in New Zealand

New Zealand

New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...

’s Chatham Islands

Chatham Islands

The Chatham Islands are an archipelago and New Zealand territory in the Pacific Ocean consisting of about ten islands within a radius, the largest of which are Chatham Island and Pitt Island. Their name in the indigenous language, Moriori, means Misty Sun...

 group in the south-west Pacific Ocean

Pacific Ocean

The Pacific Ocean is the largest of the Earth's oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic in the north to the Southern Ocean in the south, bounded by Asia and Australia in the west, and the Americas in the east.At 165.2 million square kilometres in area, this largest division of the World...

. It is important for the conservation of the critically endangered

Critically endangered

Version 2010.3 of the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species identified 3744 Critically Endangered species, subspecies and varieties, stocks and subpopulations.Critically Endangered by kingdom:*1993 Animalia*2 Fungi*1745 Plantae*4 Protista-References:...

 Magenta Petrel

Magenta Petrel

The Magenta Petrel or Chatham Island Taiko is a small seabird in the gadfly petrel genus, Pterodroma....

 (Pterodroma magentae), or Chatham Island Taiko, a small burrow-nesting seabird

Seabird

Seabirds are birds that have adapted to life within the marine environment. While seabirds vary greatly in lifestyle, behaviour and physiology, they often exhibit striking convergent evolution, as the same environmental problems and feeding niches have resulted in similar adaptations...

. The Reserve is based on 1238 ha of land still largely covered with dense native forest, donated by Manuel and Evelyn Tuanui for the conservation management of the Taiko, with adjacent land covenanted for the same purpose.

Flora and fauna

The reserve comprises an area of forested, peat-covered tableland dissected by the Tuku River and its tributaries and dominated by Tarahinau. The valley also contains Kopi, Karamu, Hoho and Matipo, with abundant tree ferns. As well as the Taiko, the reserve is important for the conservation of other animals and plants endemic to the Chatham Islands, such as the Parea

Parea

The Chatham Pigeon, Chatham Island Pigeon, or Parea is a bird endemic to the Chatham Islands in New Zealand...

or Chatham Islands Pigeon.