Te Ara Kākāriki was launched on November 18th 2005, after discussions from a group of passionate people developed into the idea of creating green corridors of native plantings linking the mountains to the sea across Canterbury. 

At the time, the plight of the indigenous biota of the Canterbury plains had long caused considerable concern. Although there were several well-established conservation agencies focussed on the uplands and areas such as Banks Peninsula, there was at that time no large scale ecological or conservation programme for the lowlands of Canterbury.

The depleted nature of the lowlands (in terms of indigenous biota) of the Canterbury Plains was emphasized by both Katie Williams and Colin Meurk who wrote “less than 0.5 percent of the plains still support native vegetation”. The Christchurch City Council added to that by reporting “the loss of these native plant communities has reached a point where habitats for our native wildlife have been reduced to a level where they are now insufficient for continued survival.”