About 50 "gecko geeks" attended the forum to learn more about geckos living on the Otago Peninsula and help develop a community based management plan for the recovery of the declining species, Department of Conservation biodiversity assets programme manager David Agnew said.
In recent years, residents and researchers have been trying to determine the size of the population on the peninsula, quantify a rate of decline, study their behaviour and habitat requirements and find out what is causing their decline.
Their research has been aided by sponsorship from Setpoint Solutions Ltd.
Among those present was Alf Webb, whom Mr Agnew described as a "local legend" for voluntarily studying gecko behaviour for the past four years.
A "natural curiosity for animal behaviour" led the labourer to become involved in the conservation of the species.
It appeared the geckos had individual behavioural patterns, and his research helped build more knowledge about them, he said.
As part of the research, Mr Webb regularly walked through the geckos' habitat and recorded when and where he saw them.
He was impressed with the number of people at the forum, as he had not expected there to be so much interest.
"It's fantastic to learn more about what people have been doing, and to have so many intelligent questions asked."
Mr Agnew said the future of the jewelled gecko "relied on community input and interest", and he was pleased to get interested parties in the same place.
