A plan to revive the extinct Moa has sparked debate - and excitement - among experts.

US company Colossal Bioscience has partnered with Ngai Tahu in a $50 million project to revive the flightless bird through gene editing and surrogate hatching.

Thylacine Integrated Genomic Restoration Research Laboratory head Andrew Pask says bringing the moa back could help fix many of the environmental issues impacting New Zealand.

"It's one of those species that we've lost due to humans coming into an environment - but these species were so critically important in maintaining the ecosystems which they came from."

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