Between next March and 2016, up to 45 kiwi will be transferred from Kapiti Island to Anchor Island/Pukenui.
The project is being managed by the Fiordland Conservation Trust and the Department of Conservation and is being funded by a significant donation from the Fiordland Lobster Company.
Trust manager Rachel Cockburn said yesterday the trust was excited the project had been confirmed.
''It is really neat we are going to have little spotted kiwi down here on Anchor.''
The birds are the only kiwi species to become extinct on the mainland.
Offshore predator-free islands have become essential for their long-term survival, and as early as 1890, several birds were shifted to Kapiti Island, off the coast of Wellington.
The first transfer of birds back to Fiordland was to Chalky/Te Kakahu Island in 2008-10.
Although the overall population had grown to around 1500, more help was needed to ensure the species' long-term survival, Doc biodiversity ranger Hannah Edmonds, of Te Anau, said.
''Now stoat-free, forest-clad Anchor is an island with an ecosystem becoming as healthy as it has been in decades.''
Birds would be fitted with radio transmitters several months in advance and tracked on transfer day, ensuring as smooth a transition as possible.
Three to four separate transfers might be required over several years, with the first group being closely monitored for health and weight gain to ensure the project was going according to plan, Ms Edmonds said.
The Fiordland Lobster Company has been involved with several other bioversity projects in Fiordland, notably the restoration and eradication of stoats on Pigeon Island in Dusky Sound.
It also helped fund the reintroduction of mohua/yellowhead and South Island robin/kakaruai on Pigeon Island and sponsored the cost of shifting Haast kiwi to Coal Island in 2009.
Ms Cockburn said the project had a ''movable budget'', depending on how many kiwi could be caught on a particular day and how many transfers took place.
She expected the Fiordland Lobster Company's donation would be more than $20,000.
