A big win for a tiny frog.

A long-running conservation battle for the habitat of Hochstetter's frog has come to an end.

Four hundred hectares of land near Te Puke becomes a conservation sanctuary today - protecting the only home of the endemic frog.

It's four hundred hectares of land, including a basin and stream headwaters, near Te Puke.

Forest and Bird member Carole Long was part of the group that discovered the frog, 24 years ago.

"They are really remarkable- unique to New Zealand. They don't have any voice, they don't have any ears, and they give birth to little froglets instead of tadpoles" she said.

Long said the area was quarried from the 1960s - and the owner would have mined the area and wiped out the frog's habitat years ago if he'd been allowed.

"The status now has changed from stewardship, which doesn't give protection, to a sanctuary, which means that it's safe from mining, and it's also got a level of higher status."

Hochstetter's frogs can live for up to 30 years.