Volunteers

There’s a new topic of conversation doing the rounds of the beach-side cafes and neighbourhood of Sumner in Christchurch. “It’s surprising who gets very proud of catching a dead rat,” says Gabe Ross, coordinator of Te Manu Waiata Project, otherwise known as Predator Free Sumner. “People are pretty enthusiastic, and we’ve had some very positive … Continue reading Rat catches get people talking in Sumner

Andrew Roxburgh reckons the Newtown area of Wellington where he lives is becoming a more wild place – “and that’s pretty cool!” Andrew is a volunteer with Predator Free Mt Cook/Newtown/Berhampore and says that as birds are spreading out from Zealandia, people are becoming more aware of them. They’re noticing native birds more. “Kaka are … Continue reading Everyday life goes ‘wild’ in Newtown

Rotokare Scenic Reserve, near Eltham in South Taranaki is a stunning reserve of mature native bush, wetlands and a 17.8hectare natural lake that was first gazetted as a reserve in the late 19th Century. But by the beginning of the 21st Century the area was in visible decline and that in turn, influenced some people’s … Continue reading Rotokare Scenic Reserve valued and thriving once more

When Ōhiwa resident Andrew Glaser pitched the concept of a management group to coordinate protection efforts on and around the Ōhiwa Headland, the community immediately liked the idea. Andrew found out just how much they liked the idea not long afterwards, when he was walking his dog one evening. The conversation went something like this:(voice … Continue reading Small Ōhiwa community are big supporters of predator control

A dedicated team of volunteers contribute an impressive 13,000 hours of work each year to Orokonui Ecosanctuary, just north of Dunedin. “Our volunteers help with every single thing we do,” says Orokonui’s general manager, Chris Baillie. “They have a very strong sense of community ownership of the Ecosanctuary. Volunteers are rostered to come on certain … Continue reading Volunteers are vital at Orokonui

Field co-ordinator, John Caygill reckons it’s “a bit of a scramble” checking the traplines on the Rainy Creek Project, “And on some lines there’s a lot of scramble!” he says. Rainy Creek is situated just east of Reefton, on the South Island’s West Coast. John himself lives in Greymouth, an hour’s drive away, but comes … Continue reading Bush savvy volunteers have ‘a bit of a scramble’

In Central Otago the locals are becoming increasingly proud of their giant lizards. “Reptiles are our megafauna,” says Grant Norbury, a Landcare Research scientist based in Alexandra and chair of the Central Otago Ecological Trust, which created a small fenced sanctuary and released the first rare lizards there back in 2009. But the reptiles weren’t … Continue reading Sanctuary raises profile of endemic lizards

A few years back, John Collins of Omaui got sick of shooting possums every night. He decided more needed to be done. Omaui is a small village of about 30 houses in Southland, located right at the mouth of the Oreti River estuary, opposite Oreti Beach. “I’ve always been environment-minded,” says John, who is now … Continue reading Possums sorted – look out Omaui rats

The beautiful, remote Matukituki Valley is located between Mt Aspiring National Park and Lake Wanaka. It’s mossy beech forests, pristine glaciers, alpine plants and birdlife (including noisy kea on the hut roof), inspired a young James K. Baxter to write ‘Poem in the Matukituki Valley’ back in 1949. Today thousands of visitors come to explore … Continue reading Wild beauty of Matukituki Valley continues to inspire

A banana impersonated a rat and got mashed at a recent school assembly at Patumahoe – and the pupils along with many of their parents got a very visual, not to mention messy, demonstration of the humane killing power of Goodnature’s self-resetting A24 rat traps. Volunteers from Kiwibank Predator Free Patumahoe were splattering banana across … Continue reading Kiwibank Predator Free Goes Bananas in Patumahoe

It’s been a while since we caught up with BRaid – Braided River aid – and lots has been happening in the interim. First up, in the ‘about to happen’ category is a free predator control workshop planned for Saturday 28 October at Woodend in North Canterbury. PFNZ Trust is helping out with costs and … Continue reading BRaid offers free trapping workshop – open to all

Bluff Hill, at the southernmost tip of the South Island, is home to one of the few mainland colonies of titi/muttonbirds in New Zealand. Hundreds of birds have their burrows on the hillside and their arrival every evening and departure again at dawn makes for a spectacular sight. But one dawn morning back around mid … Continue reading Titi inspires formation of Bluff Hill group

Tracey Murray, Trapping Field Officer for ‘Battle for the Banded Rail’  recently bought 150 mesh tea-strainers online, importing them from a manufacturer in China. So what does anyone do with 150 mesh tea-strainers? Tracey handed them out to her volunteer trappers at a recent ‘Trapping Workshop’ get-together – and not because her volunteers enjoy a … Continue reading Tea-strainers help fight ‘Battle for Banded Rail’

‘Many hands make light work’, so the saying goes – although in the case of the Kapiti Coast community, it’s a matter of ‘many volunteers make radio work’. Conservation volunteers, other community members and innovative technology companies from Paekakariki and as far away as Great Barrier Island have all contributed time and expertise. Together they’ve … Continue reading Traps, technology and lizard tales on the Kapiti Coast

The kokako are back and breeding successfully in Northland’s Puketi Forest, but it’s been a long battle to get them there – a battle fought by the Puketi Forest Trust in partnership with Iwi, the local community and the Department of Conservation, helped out by strong sponsorship support from individuals and philanthropic funders like Foundation … Continue reading Puketi Forest Trust’s battle for kokako leads to breeding success

Mapua Dawn Chorus held an open day recently to kick off their backyard trapping. There’s already an extensive trapping network around the nearby Waimea estuary, but with funding from the Predator Free Communities programme the Mapua Dawn Chorus are extending into the township of Mapua. The open day was on a Saturday when a lot … Continue reading Icy beginning for Mapua Dawn Chorus

There’s a new song being sung in the Bream Head dawn chorus and it’s being sung by a 100-strong choir of ‘bush canaries’. In May this year a hundred popokatea or whiteheads (also known as bush canaries) were translocated from Tiritiri Matangi Island in the Hauraki Gulf to Bream Head Scenic Reserve near Whangarei – … Continue reading Whiteheads rejoin Bream Head dawn chorus

The small Auckland community of Karaka Bay is only just getting started on their backyard trapping programme but they’re already noticing a difference in their community. It’s a difference in themselves. “I’ve lived here 15 years,” says trapping coordinator Mary Pearson, “And this is our first community project since I’ve been here. Since it started … Continue reading Kiwibank funding inspires Karaka Bay community spirit

When Picton organisers heard they’d won a competition to become a Kiwibank Predator Free Community earlier this year, they called a public meeting – and a hundred people turned up! “It was a very good turnout,” says co-ordinator Siobain Browning. “The Kiwibank funding gave us the opportunity to organise a big event and talk to … Continue reading Kiwibank helps launch Picton backyard trapping initiative

Conservation is a family activity for the Walker family on Great Barrier Island. Alison Walker’s grandson Ari is only 3 ½ years old, but he’s already doing his bit. “He loves to check the trap boxes,” says Alison, “and calls out ‘rat here, Nana’ or ‘no rat’. Even since he could walk he’s been all … Continue reading Walker family tackle Great Barrier rats together

Conservation projects can benefit more than just the local wildlife. There can be significant community benefits too. When a community benefits, their support for conservation grows. Everybody wins. A long-running restoration project on Great Barrier Island shows just how much a local community can gain if a commitment is made to help local people through … Continue reading Windy Hill restoration brings employment for community

Observant visitors to Shakespear Regional Park recently, may have observed a sheep wearing a transmitter. They might even have spotted volunteers, dressed in high-vis vests, in pursuit of that sheep, tracking it with direction-finders. Anyone witnessing this intriguing spectacle no doubt wondered why… Shakespear Park is located on the Whangaparaoa Peninsula, 50 minutes north of … Continue reading Shakespear volunteers welcome new birds to park

Shona Riddell travels to some of New Zealand’s precious and isolated subantarctic islands: the Snares, Enderby Island, Auckland Island and Campbell Island. Halfway into our five-hour guided trek across the wild and remote Enderby Island, as we huddle together above a sea-lashed coastline, clutching our cameras to snap a colony of rare Auckland shags settling into … Continue reading Call of the wild

One day last month Alison Stanes, Chair of the Tāwharanui Open Sanctuary Society Inc (TOSSI) was at Tāwharanui monitoring New Zealand dotterels. During the course of the day she saw seven dotterel chicks near fledging, checked on a kaka chick that had fallen out of its nest to make sure that its parents were still feeding … Continue reading Tāwharanui success is model for open sanctuaries

In 2013, rangers at Bream Head Scenic Reserve, in the Whangarei Heads area, discovered a species of skink completely new to science. It is just one of the exciting discoveries made by Bream Head Conservation Trust. The coffee-coloured skink is a distinct species – appropriately named Oligosoma “Bream Head” – and is found within an … Continue reading New skink species is one of many Bream Head discoveries

Many years ago, Clive Paton’s aunt, Noeline Paton, used to run Forest & Bird in Otago. She was an early influence in his life. “She used to send me Forest & Bird magazines when I was young,” Clive recalls, “She sent them even when I was in my early 20s. It always stuck with me … Continue reading Aorangi Restoration Trust works closely with deerstalkers and community

With 1125 trap stations for stoats (some with rat and possum traps nearby), covering an area in excess of 8,000 hectare, Friends of Flora must be one of the largest volunteer trapping programmes in New Zealand. A core group of 40 to 50 people check the traplines 8 to 10 times per year and in the … Continue reading Friends of Flora volunteers are keen trappers

Back in the 1990s, Kaharoa Forest near Rotorua was one of three forests involved in an 8-year ‘Research by Management’ project to discover why kokako populations were still declining even though large-scale forest clearance had stopped. Competition for food by possums and introduced predators like ship rats were suspected as the cause. Carmel Richardson had … Continue reading Science can break your heart…

Arthur’s Pass Wildlife Trust (APWT) doesn’t have a huge population to call on for its conservation work. There are only about 30 people living permanently in Arthur’s Pass village. But that hasn’t stopped them taking action to sort out the stoats that threatened their kea and great spotted kiwi – and now they’re celebrating a … Continue reading Award recognises huge efforts of tiny Arthur’s Pass community

In Nelson they’re building an ark to the future. The Brook Waimarama Sanctuary is at the site of a long-abandoned water reserve – a huge area comprised mainly of pristine old-growth forest. This ark for indigenous wildlife is 691 hectares in size, making it 2½ times the size of Zealandia or Orokonui. Like Wellington’s Zealandia … Continue reading Old water reserve becomes ‘ark to the future’

Whakatane, Eastern Bay of Plenty – it’s the Kiwi Capital of the World! According to the town’s official website, kiwi (the feathered sort), can be heard calling from the town’s CBD and residents living near reserves occasionally have kiwi venturing into their gardens. Nowhere else in urban New Zealand does our national bird live in … Continue reading Whakatane groups unite to help kiwi

Unbeknown to most Aucklanders, fernbirds and banded rails are living only 9km from their city centre. But Jeremy Painting has discovered that rats in ‘plague’ proportions are threatening nesting success. He tells his story… Although situated only 9km from downtown Auckland and tucked on the eastern side of the Te Atatu Peninsula, this reserve is relatively unknown … Continue reading Rat plague threatens wetlands birds at Harbourview

The Milson Scout troop of Palmerston North has taken up the challenge. After an inspiring talk a couple of weeks ago by Horizons Regional Councillor, Rachel Keedwell, the 30 scouts, aged 10-14, have built their own trap tunnels, fitted traps and made a start towards making their community rat free. Scout leader Andrew Mercer said … Continue reading Milson Scouts take up the PF challenge

The momentum is growing and we’re super excited about it! Wellington has just announced its plans to be the world’s first predator-free capital. Go Wellington! The NEXT Foundation, Greater Wellington Regional Council and Wellington City Council are banding together to lead the initiative, but they won’t be doing it on their own. Success depends on … Continue reading Predator Free Wellington – the momentum gathers…

Calling all Cantabrians and Southlanders – and any other South Islanders living near or exploring the region’s many braided river systems: rare and endangered river birds will be returning to the shingle river ‘islands’ to nest over the coming weeks. BRaid (Braided River Aid) is asking recreational river users to report locations of breeding colonies … Continue reading BRaid needs YOU!

Reuben Lane enjoys the staunch, feisty characters of the seabirds he’s helping to keep safe on the South Island’s West Coast – blue penguins, Fiordland crested penguins, petrels and fairy prions – they’re all birds with a bit of ‘attitude’. Based in Westport, Reuben moved to the Buller in 1998 to help Native Forest Action … Continue reading Staunch penguins a match for stoats, but not dogs

Puketoki Reserve is virgin low-altitude podocarp forest in the Whakamarama area (between Katikati and Tauranga). It was set aside for the people of the Tauranga region in 1928, by sawmilling firm Sharplin Brothers in a very early example of business conservation ethic. In recent times, the 40 Ha of virgin bush had become a haven … Continue reading North Island robins are taking off at Puketoki

When a small group of Coromandel locals got together in 2000, wanting to do something for the environment, they could little have imagined the sheer scale of conservation work being done by their members today. Sixteen years after the Moehau Environment Group (MEG) was first formed, the 100-strong group now works over a catchment area … Continue reading Advocacy and active predator control on the Coromandel

There’s something rather special about wetlands – and not just because they’re becoming increasingly rare. There is an air of secrets and mystery, of strangeness lurking just below the waterline. There is, for example, the mudfish. Mudfish are fish without scales that can survive without water – which makes for a very odd fish indeed. … Continue reading Secrets of Mangarakau Wetlands revealed

Good things – even great things – can come from inauspicious-seeming beginnings. In 2010 a proposed new wastewater system got people worried in the small, remote East Coast settlement of Mahia, located on the Mahia Peninsula, between Napier and Gisborne. The effect of other land usage on water quality was also causing concern. The Whangawehi … Continue reading Local marae community inspires environmental change

It may well be Wellington’s best kept secret – an urban wilderness area where nationally threatened fish species thrive in a meandering stream and where possums were eradicated over a decade ago. An ongoing network of bait stations stops the possums from reinvading and keeps rat numbers down too. Not that the fish are particularly … Continue reading Trelissick Park Group cares for idyllic wilderness area

Jo Halley is sore – sore knees, sore feet and sore shoulders. She’s just back from several days of crawling through scrub in search of great spotted kiwi (roroa), then digging and crawling into muddy burrows to change the year-old batteries in their transmitters before they go flat. Evenings were spent listening for kiwi calls, … Continue reading Kiwi Ranger keeps track of Great Spotted Kiwi

The South Island’s stunning braided river systems have been formed over millions of years as clashing tectonic plates created mountains and glaciers and then high rainfall and melting snows washed away at the mountain rock, sweeping gravel down into the valleys and coastal plains. In between rainstorms and spring snow melts, the river flow reduced … Continue reading BRaid comes to aid of ancient rivers and rare birdlife

For a little penguin (until recently known as little blue penguin) in the city, the urban adventure includes a few extra hazards not encountered by their country-coastline relatives – including large steel-bodied predators super-fuelled by petroleum. If penguins have imaginations, then cars and trucks must seem like living nightmare monsters. But crossing a busy road … Continue reading Making a Place for Penguins in the City

When it comes to clever, New Zealand’s alpine parrots are up there with the smartest crows, African Grey Parrots and even monkeys. Kea can problem-solve, use tools and do all the other things that show they’re among the world’s most intelligent non-humans. But, living above the treeline, they’ve evolved to nest among boulders and if … Continue reading Conservation groups team up to help Mt Aspiring kea

A guest editorial by Northland conservationist and author, Wade Doak. From the minute Jan and I, with our two teen kids, landed on a forest hilltop at Ngunguru, some 33 years ago, pest control became part of our survival. We had forty-four acres of wilderness, half of which, well regenerated native forest, we covenanted. Sustainable … Continue reading Pest control in earnest

In late 2015, 80 mohua were transferred from Chalky Island to Te Puka-Hereka/Coal Island in Fiordland National Park, the latest in a series of native bird transfers to the island. It was an exciting event for the South West New Zealand Endangered Species Charitable Trust (SWNZESCT), whose members had been working since 2004 to raise … Continue reading Coal Island – a southern sanctuary for rare species

An art exhibition is an unusual way to tackle introduced pests, but ‘Citizen Sci-Art’, on show at the Portobello Hall for the weekend 27-28 February, is the latest in many initiatives by the Otago Peninsula Biodiversity Group (OPBG) and their supporters to get out and about and talking to their local community. Subtitled ‘from Stewart … Continue reading Art exhibition is latest initiative for Otago Peninsula group

Marie Haley lives in her great grandmother’s house on the Banks Peninsula land that was first farmed by her French great-great-great grandfather. It’s on a part of Banks Peninsula known as the ‘Wildside’, named for its rugged landscape, dramatic cliffs and iconic species of birds, insects and plants – some of which are not found … Continue reading Protecting the Wildside’s unique biodiversity

Glen Riley, coordinator at Te Nohoaka o Tukiauau, Sinclair Wetlands, 40km south of Dunedin, has been talking with some members of the Ornithological Society recently. According to the ornithologists, spotless crake were seen at the wetlands 30 years ago, but have been rare ever since. That may have changed. Glen says crakes have been heard … Continue reading Fernbirds flourishing at Sinclair Wetlands

As far as anyone knew, kiwi were long gone from the Houto Forest near Dargaville, until a kiwi was found on farmland just 1km north of the forest. The kiwi – accidentally caught in a possum trap – was taken to the Native Bird Rescue Centre in Whangarei until its leg injury healed and it … Continue reading Kiwi comeback inspires new charitable trust

New Zealand’s whio or blue duck (Hymenolaimus malacorhynchos to those with a fondness for Latin), likes nothing better than the turbulent white water of a fast-flowing mountain river. Its preferred habitat is so rugged that blue ducklings hatch with unusually large feet, even for ducks. Having big feet means they’re better able cope with the … Continue reading Tough little duck has some hardy supporters

Imagine this: you’re the new manager of Glenfern, a 260-hectare sanctuary on Great Barrier Island in Auckland. There are over 1,000 tunnels and bait stations to monitor, both inside and bordering the sanctuary. Would you head out for several hours at a time, clutching a waterproof notebook, and then return to manually enter any captures … Continue reading Mind the Trap: Data Capture a Time-Saver on Great Barrier

Auckland Council biodiversity officer Ben Paris, aka NZ Batman, is on a mission; not to save Gotham by defeating criminal masterminds, but to protect our bat population (yes, we have bats) through education and conservation. Here, he takes on our bat questions. ‘NZ Batman’… was that title self-coined? This is an occupational hazard of working … Continue reading A Different Kind of Dark Knight

The suburb of Birkenhead sits on Auckland’s North Shore, with views across the Waitemata Harbour, thriving bush reserves, a bustling shopping village, and it’s just a few minutes’ drive over the Harbour Bridge to the central city. However, like many New Zealand neighbourhoods that border bushland reserves or waterways, there’s a bit of a rat … Continue reading Ratatouille: Birkenhead’s Urban Rat Blitz

A few years ago Otatara resident Russell Evans underwent a heart bypass. While at home recuperating from the surgery, the bird sanctuary owner gazed out of his window at all the native tui and kererū and decided that more needed to be done to protect them. Otatara is a suburb of Invercargill, with 3,000 residents … Continue reading Pestbusters: Bringing Back the Birdsong to Otatara

Maketu Ongatoro Wetland Society (MOWS) was started in 2009 to help look after the colony of New Zealand Dotterel on Maketu Spit. This then quickly morphed into an ecological restoration project through a Biodiversity Management Plan (BMP), funded by both councils and DOC, with MOWS providing the volunteer labour. This plan ends in June 2015 … Continue reading A way forward for community led conservation by Julian Fitter

It could be a Tom Cruise blockbuster: one man leads an army into battle against thousands of relentless predators. However, it’s not a movie (yet) – it’s the true story of a Wellington neighbourhood working to rid itself of rats, mice, possums, stoats and weasels. “It’s a military exercise,” says Kelvin Hastie, who has spent … Continue reading Don’t get mad, get trapping

Ever heard a possum lurking outside your bedroom window in the middle of the night, breathing heavily, or a rat’s tiny feet scuttling across the roof overhead? Neither experience is pleasant. Instead, imagine hearing native birdsong, a mini bird sanctuary of dawn chorus in your own back yard. Imagine a rat or possum trap feeling … Continue reading Caught in a Trap: Halo Takes on Wellington’s Predators

By the eighth coffee and umpteenth chocolate chip biscuit I was feeling a little jumpy, and seriously doubting that we would ever leave base. Regular scanning of the horizon indicated that it was sunny and clear everywhere but where we wanted to go. The destination was the open tops of the Ruahine Range – but … Continue reading To Trap a Stoat: A Great Day Out in the Hills