July-December 2022
Welcome to the June-December issue of Voice for Nature, the quarterly newsletter of the Central Otago Lakes Branch of Forest & Bird. This issue covers two quarters - we've been in hibernation for the winter! We would really like to hear from you, so please send any content to Ross (jrosssinclair@gmail.com). For all other branch related issues please contact our Secretary, Annabel Riley (annabel@plotlandscape.co.nz). (Banner photo Mo Turnbull)
Inside this issue
- What does your local branch of Forest & Bird actually do? - An outline of what the Central Otago Lakes Branch of Forest & Bird is doing to be a ‘Voice for Nature’
- From the Chair - Comments from the Chair of our local branch of Forest & Bird
- Latest news from the Southern Lakes Sanctuary - What's been happening with this exciting and ambitious project protecting biodiversity in our region
- Can Crown Pastoral Leases become the poster-child for ecosystem restoration? - It remains to be seen if new regulations will improve decision-making by LINZ on pastoral lease activities
- Roys Peak trapping project - A collaboration between Forest & Bird and the Wanaka Multisport Trapping group to protect 5 species of lizard
- Public Talks in Wanaka – Details on a series of winter talks hosted by Wanaka Backyard Trapping to educate our community about biodiversity
- Makarora Predator Trapping - What we are doing to protect nature at Makarora
- No More Bad Cats - Protecting river birds using automated humane traps
- Update from the Makarora Coordinator - News about work in Makarora supported by the Southern lakes Sanctuary
- Nature's Voice - A reprint of our monthly column in the Wanaka Sun: this issue, it's "Fungus the Bogeyman"
- Shake a stick at... Short summaries of branch-related news: New staff at Southern Lakes Sanctuary supporting the work of Forest & Bird: What are these 'hubs' we keep hearing about?: Young Valley trapping: New trapping at Treble Cone and Matukituki Valley: Potential Ecosystem and Habitat Mapping of Otago Region: Update from Southern Lakes Sanctuary Biodiversity Coordinator, Jo Tilson: Butterfields Wetlands: Hawea Conservation Reserve: Native Planting at Remarkables Station: The Wānaka Trap Library: So much for gratitude!: Pennycook Podocarp Restoration: Offsetting carbon by planting at Grandview: Predator Free 2050 Limited Annual Report: Last but not least... Whio in the Blue River
- You can help! - Information about joining, volunteering and donating
- Up-coming events - Details of forthcoming events in the region
- One of the team - Highlighting one of the team and their work for Forest & Bird
- Thank you to our donors and supporters - a shoutout to our supporters
- Missed an issue? - Links to past issues of Voice for Nature
What does your local branch of Forest & Bird actually do?
An overview of what the Central Otago Lakes Branch of Forest & Bird is doing to be a ‘Voice for Nature’.
Our main activity is predator trapping: 25 years of dedicated volunteer effort
We have been trapping in Makarora since 1998 with over 900 traps now in action, and 70 volunteers on trapping rosters doing 5000 hours per year
We removed 903 predators 2021 and 6694 since trapping began
(Photo Andrew Penniket)
We plant hundreds of trees for biodiversity enhancement and carbon sequestration
We monitor and offset our carbon footprint
(Photo Anne Steven)
With partners, we run the highest trapline in the country on Mt Roy to protect 5 species of lizard
(Photo Andrew Penniket)
We work with local schools and communities on conservation projects
(Photo Andrew Penniket)
We monitor Mohua populations to measure success
(Photo Jo Tilson)
We track predators numbers to measure impact of our trapping
(Photo Mo Turnbull)
We sponsor research into predators and Mohua populations
(Figure from a report by Nathan Whitmore)
We deploy innovative approaches such as this satellite-based platform for the humane live trapping of cats
(Photo Andrew Penniket)
As a founding member of the Southern Lakes Sanctuary, we are helping create a predator free region extending from Haast Pass to Lake Whakatipu
At Makarora we are guarding the northern gateway to the Sanctuary
(Image from Southern Lakes Sanctuary)
We make submissions on district and regional plans, and on developer's planning applications where they impact biodiversity
We work towards reducing environmental impact in our region
(Photo Jo Tilson)
We are a 'Voice for Nature' in Central Otago and the Southern Lakes
(Photo DOC)
From the Chair
Forest & Bird is Aotearoa’s leading conservation society and next year it will be 100 years since it was formed - a cause for celebration and a good time to reflect on our achievements.
On the local level the Central Otago Lakes Branch is going from strength to strength with a number of recent initiatives as well as long term projects
Central to our activities has been the Makarora pest control programme, which has grown from a few traps on a single trap line shared with DOC in 1997, to some 900 traps along 14 trapping lines with over 70 regular volunteers and a paid coordinator supported by the Southern Lakes Sanctuary.
Formation of the Southern Lakes Sanctuary, and recent funding from the government’s Jobs For Nature programme, has greatly boosted our trapping efforts. These include construction of new traps, maintenance and recalibration of existing traps, and clearing lines after massive snowfall damage, as well as the mammoth undertaking of establishing a new trap line up the Blue River to Maori Saddle. The Southern Lakes Sanctuary is now the umbrella group for a number of like-minded conservation groups, such as Wanaka Backyard Trapping and Wanaka Multisports Group at Wanaka, and many others in the Whakatipu Basin.
It is heartening that trapping and caring for the environment has become mainstream, and the results are starting to show with increasing numbers of tui visiting Wanaka in winter and even the odd kereru reported. In addition to Forest & Bird-led plantings at Shortcut Road, Grandview, Millennium Track and the Pennycook Podocarp Restoration project at Makarora, there are also dozens of plantings being undertaken by Te Kakano Aotearoa and WAI Wanaka. All these are helping to regreen the landscape.
Despite the impact of climate change looming over us, as well as other threats like the expansion of wallabies and pines trees as examples, there is much to feel positive about in our local environment.
There is plenty of work to be done but we should all feel proud of what we have achieved so far.
.
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Andrew Penniket is the Chair of our local branch of Forest & Bird. You can contact Andrew at apenniket@yahoo.com
Latest news from the Southern Lakes Sanctuary
(Photo Southern Lakes Sanctuary)
Our local branch of Forest & Bird is one of the founding members of the Southern Lakes Sanctuary, an exciting and ambitious project that aims to intensively control or eradicate predators across 183,000 hectares in the catchments of Lakes Wānaka and Whakatipu to protect more than 30 threatened or at-risk bird and lizard species.
Paul Kavanagh, Director of the Southern Lakes Sanctuary, gives us the following recent highlights:
- The Southern Lakes Sanctuary and our partners hosted a week long hui on the Conservation Standards, an internationally recognized adaptive management tool for developing landscape scale conservation plans. We were humbled and motivated by the incredible turnout and the energy and passion that attendees brought, and we are certain that it will be of enormous benefit for conservation in our region. Thanks to our workshop sponsors The Nature Conservancy, QLDC, ORC and The US Embassy. We are now implementing the Conservation Standards as we plan for our future mahi.
- Our staff also completed a training course on SMART (spatial monitoring and reporting tool) which is used at more than 1,000 sites in over 70 countries. Southern Lakes Sanctuary are the first project in Aoteoroa New Zealand to adopt both these SMART innovative tools, and the Conservation Standards, demonstrating ur commitment to being leaders in the conservation space.
Southern Lakes Sanctuary have secured a very generous grant from Central Lakes Trust to enable us to build and install traps for our partner groups to better protect the 30 at risk species in our project area
- We have also secured a grant from ORC’s Ecofund to help DOC, the Mohua Charitable trust and The Matukituki Charitable Trust with a Mohua translocation for West Matukituki valley. This project is a great story of collaboration and is the result of nearly a decade’s work by volunteer groups in the Matukituki.
- We have now appointed co-ordinators for Glenorchy and Whakatipu to complement our Matukituki and Makarora coordinators, and we have also hired new field crew, a strategic communications specialist and admin support. We now have 16 passionate and skilled staff.
- Training and capacity building is a core focus area for us, and we recently hosted a two-day training hui in Glenorchy. These full-on and fun sessions included health and safety training, river crossing, emergency response training and of course, team building. Staff have also recently completed First Aid and 4-wheel drive training.
- Our staff have been very busy with trapline installations, calibrating traps, and biodiversity monitoring, while trap building continues at pace on rainy days. We are approaching 1,000 traps built.
We have built 1000 traps for our partners including an arsenal of 70 AT220 traps operating in the Whakatipu. In Bush Creek in Arrowtown, 23 of these self-resetting traps have caught over 300 possums in 2 months
- We will also be supporting trials to make the very efficient AT220 traps kea-proof to enable us to use them in some of our key biodiversity areas.
- Community engagement is an area where we are seeing huge gains. Our talk series with our partner Wanaka Backyard Trappers has been hugely successful with an incredible turn out and some excellent presentations.
- We have secured a large grant from the Tūpiki Trust to fund a biodiversity project in the Young Valley, Makarora. This grant will support the work of partner Forest & Bird in conservation planning, site-monitoring, trap network expansion, catch monitoring, data analysis, indigenous biodiversity assessment, knowledge sharing and collaboration among stakeholders.
- Securing additional funding is a priority focus for us, so we can continue to support our partner groups. Watch this space!
If you want to learn more about the Southern Lakes Sanctuary, click on the links below or contact Richard Mallet at richard@southernlakessanctuary.org.nz
Can Crown Pastoral Leases become the poster-child for ecosystem restoration?
On the 13 May, new legislation to improve the management of Crown pastoral leases was passed. This Bill amends the Crown Pastoral Land Act to put an end to tenure review and to provide a new framework for the management of pastoral leases by Toitu te Whenua LINZ.
The new framework for the management of pastoral leases has the expressed intent to more actively recognise and manage the special landscape, ecological and other values of crown pastoral lease land
The new legislation involves the drafting of regulations and standards related inter alia to the information required in applications for discretionary activities, and the factors the commissioner needs to consider when deciding whether to grant a consent.
There remain some 1.2 million ha of crown pastoral lease land in the South Island. There are around 75 pastoral leases through Otago and Southland, from deep in the Southern Alps, such as Mt Albert and Minaret Stations, to a cluster remaining on the Rock and Pillar Range (such as the Pateraoa syndicate). Some are large, such as Nokomai and Glenary; some are small such as Clover Flats under the Kakanuis.
Lowburn Valley station on the Pisa Range above Cromwell was one of the last three in the tenure review process. The preliminary proposal was advertised late in 2021 and Forest & Bird attended the inspection field trip in January 2022. A number of submissions were made advocating changes to improve the outcomes for nature and recreation, but those must have proved unpalatable to the lessee as Lowburn Valley is “not in tenure review” according to LINZ website.
Whether the new regulations improve decision-making by LINZ on pastoral lease activities remains to be seen
The information to be provided by the lessee is similar in scope and detail to that required for a resource consent. There are questions around how the Crown Pastoral Land Act process will align with consenting under the Resource Management Act or the new Natural and Built Environments legislation, so that perverse outcomes are avoided. The regulations also do not include positive effects. LINZ has a very important role in encouraging and supporting activities that actively aim to restore ecosystem function and indigenous communities, such as wetland restoration and protection and active re-planting. These will also need consent and the main purpose of the application process here will be to ensure ecologically appropriate outcomes.
Anne Steven is a Registered Landscape Architect and committee member of our local branch of Forest & Bird. Contact Anne at a.steven@xtra.co.nz
(Photo Andrew Penniket)
Mount Roy is home to at least 5 species of lizard – orange spotted gecko, Southern Alps gecko, McCanns skink, green skink and Southern Lakes skink. They are all threatened by introduced predators, especially hedgehogs which are voracious lizard hunters. Also present are grasshoppers, and alpine wetas, other animals highly vulnerable to predators; these too will benefit greatly from this trapping project. The Roys Peak trapping programme is a collaboration between Forest & Bird members and the Wanaka Multisport Trapping group. This is one of the highest trapping lines in the country and we are fortunate to have such a keen group of fit people to help out right on the outskirts of Wanaka township. Splendid scenery is one of the rewards.
The first year of Forest & Bird's Mt Roy trapping project had a very successful start with 9 hedgehogs, 9 ferrets and a weasel removed from the ecosystem. Half a metre of snow and more covered the traps over winter, but this has mostly melted now and trapping will resume shortly, with extraordinary help from Wanaka Multisports Group. The first task is a team expedition to put in another 11 traps to make a total of 30 DOC 200 traps helping protect the alpine creatures.
Andrew Penniket is chair of the committee of our local branch of Forest & Bird. If you are keen to assist on high-altitude trapping, contact Andrew a apenniket@yahoo.com
Public Talks in Wanaka
A series of winter talks is being run by a local group, Wanaka Backyard Trapping, to educate our community about biodiversity. Organiser Petrina Duncan is one of the committee members of our local branch of Forest & Bird, and a staff member of the Southern Lakes Sanctuary. Our branch is also hosting a talk to add to this series of public events. The series includes speakers from near and far – Hawea, Dunedin and even Auckland – and a diverse range of topics.
In June, local pest controller and Forest & Bird committee member Billy Barton gave a fascinating talk about his work, focusing on his use of working dogs and ferrets to control rabbits, wallabies, feral cats, mustelids and other introduced species - including red-back spiders! Billy brought along two of his ‘staff member’ ferrets to meet the audience, one of which was albino – quite a sight for those who’ve never seen a tame ferret before, let alone a white one!
The second talk in early July was by Birds NZ Otago Branch members, Mary Thompson (Dunedin) and Richard Schofield (Balclutha). Their focus was to teach the audience about the NZ Bird Atlas project which is currently under way and runs for two more years. Anyone who has registered with the online birding website eBird can contribute their bird counts to the NZ Atlas Portal using a straightforward app on their mobile phone.
Mary highlighted the importance of getting widespread data about the seasonal distribution of birds across the country to inform scientists and policy-makers. After the talk, the group headed to the shore of Lake Wanaka to practice using the eBird App for bird checklists. Plenty of mallard ducks, scaup and black-billed gulls were seen, along with a few courting grebes and little pied shags.
Further talk topics in November and December are listed below.
Invasive small mammal elimination in upland areas - Dr Nick Foster, University of Otago. Nick will summarise findings from several pieces of research, including the extents of the alpine zone distributions of invasive species, how high-elevation landforms can be exploited as barriers to reinvasion, and how some species persist in alpine zones throughout winter while others move to lower elevations or otherwise alter their habitat use. Monday 21st November, 7.00pm to 8.30pm, Armstrong Room in the Lake Wānaka Centre. Bookings not required; free entry. Enquiries to 021 204 5083.
The Cardrona Kārearea Project - Ewan Mackie (Cardrona/Treble Cone) & Graham Parker (Parker Conservation). The endemic NZ karearea/falcon has recently been reclassified by DOC as “Threatened, Nationally Vulnerable”. The Cardrona project’s work is leading to greater scientific understanding that will enable effective conservation for the species. Graham and Ewan will share insight into their methodology and results of this community driven project. Thursday 8th December 7.00pm to 8.30pm, Armstrong Room in the Lake Wānaka Centre. Bookings not required; free entry. Enquiries to 021 204 5083
Bookings not required and entry is free for all these talks. Enquiries to 021 204 5083. For more information about when the talks are coming up, please visit the Facebook page of Wanaka Backyard Trapping by clicking the link below.
Petrina Duncan is committee member of our local branch of Forest & Bird and Communications & Upper Clutha Community Coordinator for the Southern Lakes Sanctuary. Contact Petrina at petrina.duncan@southernlakessanctuary.org.nz
Predator Trapping at Makarora
Trapping update from Makarora (July-November 2022)
The Central Otago Lakes Branch trapping team of 60 volunteers runs a network of around 900 traps along 14 trapping lines in Makarora at the head of Lake Wanaka. Each month the team reports the number of predators captured. Every three months the team also runs tracking tunnels to give an independent way to monitor predator numbers.
Quite a lot has been happening since the last Newsletter. The last trap line to be paid for by the DOC Community Fund was completed in August. 60 traps on Jo’s Line (after Jo Tilson, one of our Commitee members and Southern Lakes Sanctuary Monitoring expert) runs along the back of the alluvial fans at the foot of Castle Hill, and along with Castle Hill and Kiwi Flat lines effectively rings this prime Mohua habtat. The line is catching a lot of rats.
Our tireless Southern Lakes Sanctuary Boots-on-the-Ground team, Paul Millis and Adie Lawrence, have finally cleared the backlog of windfalls and damage caused by heavy snows early in the winter.
Additional traps have gone out in the North Young, and more will be deployed in the head of the South Young shortly. These have been funded by the Central Lakes Trust and constructed by Southern Lakes Sanctuary, and deployed by Andrew Penniket's team of enthusiasts. Yet another trap line has been built by Southern Lakes Sanctuary on the south bank of the Young to Ram Flat and will include some of the lower Young Valley line traps (shown in green on the map.) All these traps, plus the other Forest & Bird lines, are now operated by Forest & Bird and Southern Lakes Sanctuary, as DOC are no longer able to maintain their old lines.
The biggest effort is going into a 100-trap line in the Blue valley, from Maori Saddle down to the existing Camp Flat line. This line (white on the map) will protect and enhance the relict whio population in the valley, and also help the small numbers of Piwauwau (Bird of the Year this year!), Mohua and Kea known to survive there. Traps should be on the ground by Christmas.
Clearing the Blue Line, and the Young lines, is a big effort, requiring three days of hard yakka in the bush, with two nights away: we are very grateful that there are the keen volunteers out there to help with this effort.
So what are predator numbers doing? Not a lot. Stoat catches have been thankfully very low over the last few months, the lowest for a long time. Rat numbers remain stubbornly high, although there is some bias in the numbers as several lines were checked more frequently during maintenance following the snow damage.
In other Makarora trapping news: The SLS applied to the Tupiki Trust (backed by the New Zealand Alpine Club) for funding to expand our efforts to protect biodiversity in the Makarora area. The Tupiki Trust exists to foster climbing in New Zealand, and to protect our mountain areas.
The Tupiki Trust has granted Southern Lakes Sanctuary two years of funding to enhance both biodiversity monitoring, and predator control efforts, in Makarora
This funding will enable us to expand trapping in the upper Young catchment and at Gillespies Pass, and undertake biodiversity surveys both there, and in the adjacent Ore and Leven valleys prior to possible expansion of trapping into those catchments.
Our Southern Lakes Sanctuary-funded Makarora Coordinator, Di Liddell, stepped down in August and we are very fortunate to have Sarah Forder as Di’s replacement. Sarah comes to the Southern Lakes Sanctuary from a position as Biodiversity Ranger with DOC Wanaka: she lives at Makarora and brings a great deal of relevant experience and enthusiasm to the Makarora Hub of the Southern Lakes Sanctuary.
Rats, The Movie - this is a visualization (called a 'density map') of the number of rats caught at Makarora between 2006-2022. The larger and brighter the 'bubble' the more rats that were caught.
Stoats In Time! - this is a visualization of the number of stoats caught at Makarora between 2006-2022.
Click the tab below to get an interactive visualization of catch data for Makarora. You can select a date range, species and trap type. Have a play!
Mo Turnbull is a Trustee of the Southern Lakes Sanctuary representing our local branch of Forest and Bird. Contact Mo at sandymount@actrix.co.nz
(Photo Mo Turnbull)
No More Bad Cats
Forest & Bird uses a satellite-based platform for the humane live trapping of cats on braided riverbeds. Live capture traps are used as cats are more willing to enter the larger traps and any kea or pet cats caught can be released unharmed. Because the system sends a message when an individual trap is tripped, we only need to check traps at those times, not daily, and cats do not remain in traps for longer than a few hours. This trapping programme is designed to complement the extensive kill trap network in the adjacent forest areas of Makarora.
The No More Bad Cats satellite-monitored live trapping programme for predator control continues to be very successful. Initially aimed at giving some protection to braided river birds when they nest over Spring and Summer, we have extended trapping through Autumn and early winter, to hit the predators when food is short and they are hungriest.
May 2022 saw our most successful month yet with 10 cats caught and in June our trapping group met to celebrate 60 cats removed
Spring has brought a resurgence in hedgehog captures as they come out of hibernation. Hedgehogs are a primary target as they are voracious predators of ground nesting birds, including our endangered braided river birds, especially as hogs don’t mind swimming.
Since the traps were first installed less than 2 years ago, 63 cats, 275 hedgehogs and 44 possums have been removed
Forest & Bird’s live capture trapping programme at Makarora is now being supported by Southern Lakes Sanctuary - Jobs For Nature funding that has enabled us to significantly expand the programme, and support a dedicated Makarora local, Christine Poundsford, to efficiently run the operation.
Currently there are 55 traps operating at Makarora, around the river, on adjacent farmland and on the edges of the forest. The satellite fees for both Makarora and Matukituki Valleys have been covered by a generous donation from Brian and Jannie Gillman.
Our sister live-capture trapping programme in Matukituki Valley has also had a very successful season with 10 cats, 22 hedgehogs and 14 possums caught in Autumn
The Matukituki Valley project is primarily staffed by volunteer members of the Upper Clutha Deerstalkers who do a great job clearing traps on a daily basis.
Trapping in the Matukituki resumed in September, to reduce predator numbers before the breeding season of black fronted tern, black billed gulls and other threatened species. Plans are afoot to move our satellite hub up to Treble Cone Skifield, to take advantage of mobile phone reception and save considerably on satellite fees. This will be a collaboration with the skifield to assist their own excellent trapping initiative on the upper slopes and down the road.
Live capture programmes are complex operations requiring a big commitment of time and funds. Forest & Bird is very grateful for the support of the Upper Clutha Deerstalkers, Billy Barton and Mary Hunt for providing bait and servicing traps, and Tim Sikma for tremendous technical support. Brian and Jannie Gillman generously sponsor the satellite fees and the Southern Lakes Sanctuary has kindly covered the cost of 50 new cage traps and 10 nodes. This will allow us to expand both networks to 50 traps each, which should be an optimum number. We plan to be operating at full numbers for both rivers in Spring of this year. A huge thanks to all our helpers and supporters.
We are always on the lookout for volunteers to help who have their firearms permit. If you are keen to assist on cat trapping, contact Andrew at apenniket@yahoo.com.
Andrew Penniket is Chair of the committee of our local branch of Forest & Bird and the driving force behind the 'No More Bad Cats' project.
Update from the Makarora Coordinator
Sarah Forder is the Makarora Hub Coordinator. Sarah coordinates the logistics of supporting and expanding the existing trapping network. She manages both paid field staff, and the large number of volunteers (60 at last count) who do the mahi on the trap network. This position is with the Southern Lakes Sanctuary and is funded for 3 years through DOC's Mahi mo te Taiao/Jobs4Nature.
The Southern Lakes Sanctuary is in full swing with Four Hub Coordinators and 16 field crew assisting groups and implementing new monitoring and predator control programmes in and around hubs at Glenorchy, the Matukituki Valley, Cardrona/Wanaka and Makarora.
Makarora is a key focus for the Southern Lakes Sanctuary, assisting Central Otago Lakes Branch of Forest & Bird with its ongoing predator control mahi.
The Southern Lakes Sanctuary partnership with Forest & Bird is helping achieve the long-held dream of expansion into new parts of Tititea / Mount Aspiring National Park in order to protect threatened populations of Mohua, Rock Wren, Whio and Kea
We are currently implementing a new trapline extending the full length of the Blue Valley leading up from Blue Pools through to a low pass in the Main Divide leading to the Okuru River. This used to be a route for Maori travelling through to the West Coast for Pounamu. It is host to four threatened species of birds, and almost definitely of long tailed bats. Southern Lakes Sanctuary has recently secured funding from the Tupiki Trust that will cover time and resources to carry out species surveys throughout valleys in the Makarora area, including the Blue, to understand where future predator control efforts should be focused.
Calibration of all of Forest & Bird’s traps has almost come to completion; this is the process of checking that traps are set optimally and identifying which ones need maintenance or replacement.
Trying new baits has been at the forefront of trapping in the Makarora valley. Issues with bait include increasing cost, mouldiness and length of life. NARA block lures for stoats have been used on a few lines, and have proved a good alternative to Eggs and Erayz, being easy and light to transport and having a life of 3 months, as well as being cheaper and refreshable (not single use). A new lure on the market; PoaUku clay lure by Connovation NZ (developed by ZIP) also has potential as an effective long-life lure for rats, stoats and possums. The Matuktuki Charitable Trust and Otago Kiwi Trust are looking to trial PoaUku lure up the East Matukituki and we look forward to seeing their results.
You can contact Sarah at sarah@southernlakessanctuary.org.nz
Nature's Voice
In each newsletter we reprint an article from our monthly 'Nature's Voice' column in the Wanaka Sun for members who may have missed the original. The following article, "Fungus the Bogeyman", is about the underground bogeymen in our local forests doing an important job that most of us have absolutely no idea about.
Fungus the Bogeyman
In his classic children’s picture book, Fungus the Bogeyman, Raymond Briggs wrote very colourfully about the dark, slimy and awful underground life of the Bogeymen. It was an underground life unknown to us ‘drycleaners’, as the bogymen referred to the humans living above. Life imitates art: we have real life underground bogeymen in our local forests doing an important job that most of us have absolutely no idea about.
Beech trees – all trees for that matter - grow better with their roots surrounded by what are known as mycorrhizal fungi: fungi that extract nutrients from the soil (particularly phosphorus) and allow the trees to absorb them more readily. In return, the trees pass back carbohydrates derived from photosynthesis. Most of our native trees have their own specific mycorrhiza. Amanita nothofagi is particularly associated with beech trees, although there are other fungal species as well. Manuka and Kanuka have other mycorrhizal species, but it’s not known how many and what governs their distribution. These relationships between trees and their fungi have evolved over millions of years, and together they form intricate and self-sustaining webs – the wood wide web.
Most of the time, we never know these mycorrhiza are there. They form huge networks of very fine threads and nodules around the host roots, and we only see the fruiting bodies – the mushrooms and toadstools – that pop out on the surface, most commonly in autumn.
Enter the bogeyman: the colourful and familiar mushroom known as Fly Agaric, or Amanita muscaria, perhaps the most iconic ‘toadstool’ species of all with its red and white polka dot cap
This fungus was introduced from Europe in soil around plants, probably pines. It grows preferentially under conifers such as Pinus radiata and Douglas Fir Pseudotsuga menziesii. Douglas fir really only got going as a timber – and wilding pest – tree species after a mycorrhizal fungus was introduced to boost its growth. Bad move?Oak trees are also a favoured habitat. Amanita muscaria is poisonous and can cause savage headaches, delirium, nausea, coma and death. The popular name comes from its traditional use as a fly-killer.
Amanita muscaria is the gorse of the fungal world. It has invaded our pine forests, our lawns and back gardens, and is now creeping into our native forests. In the drier forest regions around Lake Hawea and Lake Wanaka, Amanita is now seen almost everywhere, coming from nowhere 10 or 20 years ago. At the same time, another very attractive fungal invader has sneaked into our forests, the bright orange poreconch. First recorded in the 1960’s, it comes originally from Africa but is now invading Europe. It colonises dead trees, and is literally everywhere, from the wet West Coast to the dry hills of Southland.
The impacts that these fungi are having on the indigenous biota are completely unknown. Whether they are having a detrimental effect and replacing native fungi, or are enhancing the growth of their hosts in the case of the mycorrhiza, we have no idea. If the results of mycorrhizal fungi spreading among our conifer forests, and the ensuing mayhem of wildings are any indication, we should be rather concerned. We muck up ecosystems we don’t understand all the time, and the results are seldom good.
What can we do about it? Probably nothing but accept the consequences. A well-designed research study to look at fungal diversity in beech forest over time would give some answers. If you are interested in finding out – and this could be a good school project – there is funding available for community-based research like this via the “Curious Minds” programme run through the Otago Museum. You can also report sightings of Amanita muscaria in native forests on iNaturalist.org. All these observations will help build up the picture of just how extensive the invasion is. If you see signs that all is not well where the fungus is, report that too.
Such citizen science is a powerful tool, and might just shed light on this fungus so we can find out if it really is a bogeyman
Mo Turnbull is a Trustee of the Southern Lakes Sanctuary representing the committee of our local branch of Forest & Bird. You can contact Mo at sandymount@actrix.co.nz
Shake a stick at...
'Shake a stick at...' - short summaries of branch-related news
New staff at Southern Lakes Sanctuary supporting the work of Forest & Bird
The Southern Lakes Sanctuary has been hiring lots of new team members. Below are brief bios of those working most closely with Forest & Bird. Please check out the Southern Lakes Sanctuary website for details of all the awesome staff they now have on the team.
New Matukituki Hub Coordinator - Sarah Forder
Sarah Forder has recently commenced the role of Makarora Hub Coordinator for the Southern Lakes Sanctuary. In Sarah's words, "Kia ora, I am a local of Makarora, at the head of Lake Wanaka. My husband and I both until recently worked for DOC, working in the Nelson Lakes, the Coromandel and the Chathams before settling here. I have a biodiversity focused back-ground, working mostly with Kiwi and doing various other species monitoring work including 5 seasons of DOC’s national Tier 1 monitoring [Tier 1 monitoring is DOC's broad scale monitoring of national biodiversity and ecosystems].
My favourite birds are Rock Wren (crowned this year's king!) and White Faced Stormies. How these delicate little birds survive in such wild places is incredible.
I am enjoying working with such a talented and passionate group of people and am heartened by all the work that is happening to conserve the complex ecosystems and taonga species across the motu
Whaia e koe te iti Kahurangi, ki te tuohu koe, me he maunga teitei
In seeking treasures of the heart, let only a lofty mountain bow your head"
You can contact Sarah at sarah@southernlakessanctuary
(Photo Southern Lakes Sanctuary)
New Matukituki Hub Coordinator – Scotty Bewley
Scott Bewley has recently commenced the role of Matukituki Hub Coordinator for the Southern Lakes Sanctuary. In Scotty’s words, “My role supports the operations of two dedicated environmental trusts that have established trapping programs in the East and West Matukituki valleys. Both the Matukituki Charitable Trust and the Otago Kiwi Recovery Trust have a committed bunch of volunteers who are regularly involved in checking and clearing traplines throughout the year. A total of 1064 traps are operational in the area, 831 in the West and 233 in the East.
A big part of my role is to coordinate the volunteer trips for each trust. Connecting and interacting with this bunch of committed and passionate people is one of the best parts of my job.
The key drivers of protecting vulnerable species combined with being in the outdoors speaks to my values and I cherish the opportunities spent with the volunteers.
My background is as a professional in the outdoor industry. I have had a couple of decades of experience leading groups and teaching a wide range of outdoor activities, mostly in Australia where I grew up. My wife and I moved to New Zealand in 2014 where we worked as instructors at Outward Bound. In 2017 we settled in Hawea Flat where I am now based. The outdoors has always been a constant theme in my life and one that helps me connect to the person I am.
My years in the outdoors have witnessed the constant stress being placed on our fragile ecosystems, and this has been a driver for me to become part of the Southern Lakes Sanctuary team
I am excited to be a part of a passionate team that is committed to the protection and rehabilitation of Aotearoa’s native species. I am also fortunate to be able to work in an amazing part of the country and I look forward to seeing you out there enjoying the wonderful birdsong.”
You can contact Scotty at Scott@southernlakessanctuary.org.nz
(Photo Scotty Bewley)
New Wānaka Field Crew - Adie Lawrence
Adie is responsible for undertaking trap servicing, maintenance on existing trap lines, installing new traps, helping with biodiversity monitoring and carrying out general field work as required. In Adie's own words, “Kia Ora! My name is Adie and I'm the new Wānaka field crew lady. I'll be working with Paul Millis helping with track and trap maintenance, installation of new lines and bird monitoring. Having several years of hiking guiding and skiing under my belt I decided it was time to go to University and understand a little more about the environment that I enjoy spending my time in.
I finished an Ecology degree in June I'm excited to be using it in conservation now
Say hi if you see me out there!"
(Photo Adie Lawrence)
What are these 'hubs' we keep hearing about?
You will often hear and read about the different ‘hubs’ in the Southern Lakes Sanctuary area, including the Makarora Hub where Forest & Bird concentrates its activity. Hubs are management units within the Southern Lakes Sanctuary that cover logical geographic areas and together cover most of the Sanctuary area. There are eight hubs: Makarora, Matukituki, Motutapu, Dart-Rees, Queenstown-Arrowtown, Wānaka-Hāwea, Cardrona and Richardson Mts (see figure above).
The eight hubs collectively represent a broad cross-section of all the major habitat types in our region and contain over 30 threatened and at-risk species
In most cases, one of the founding organisations of the Southern Lakes Sanctuary leads conservation efforts in a hub, for example, Forest & Bird in the Makarora Hub. Click the link below for more details on the Technical Approach used for the Southern Lakes Sanctuary including a description and rationale for the 'hubs'.
Young Valley trapping
The Young Valley trapping programme in Makarora has had a successful season with 8 rounds of trap checks taking out 10 mice, 143 rats and 23 stoats.
In October a hardy crew of Forest & Bird volunteers marked out an extension to the North Young trap line, doubling its length and encompassing some prime Mohua habitat - mature and very large silver beech trees full of potential nesting holes. We were rewarded with abundant Mohua song and several sightings.
Committee member Jo Tilson’s monitoring studies identified the Young Valley as having one of the best remaining populations of Mohua in the region
The following week Forest & Bird then flew in 30 traps to the North Young and 20 traps to the South Young. Traps were constructed and provided by Southern Lakes Sanctuary and the flights were funded by generous support form Brian and Jannie Gillman.
The North Young traps were set in place a week later by another hardy crew of volunteers. The crew made a short excursion at the end of the line to visit the startling lake that was formed only ten years ago by a gigantic landslide. This lake now makes a lovely lunch destination at the end of a morning's trap servicing. In the next week or two we will return to install the 20 traps in South Young Basin, to help protect Rock Wren from alpine stoats.
Andrew Penniket is chair of the committee of our local branch of Forest & Bird. If you are keen to assist on trapping in the Young Valley, contact Andrew at apenniket@yahoo.com
New trapping at Treble Cone and Matukituki Valley
Once the snows have retreated we will be entering a collaboration with Treble Cone skifield, starting with a new aerial on the border of the field. This will allow us to use the mobile phone network to monitor the traps rather than the expensive satellite monitoring system. This will also help trapping initiatives by ski field staff, to target possums, ferrets and cats in the alpine environment over summer. Once the new system is working we will reactivate the Matukituki trap network which we hope will operate off the same hub/aerial.
The Upper Clutha Deerstalkers have been a huge help with clearing and servicing the traps in what is working out as a very beneficial partnership between our groups.
If you are keen to assist on trapping on Treble Cone, contact Andrew Penniket at apenniket@yahoo.com
Potential Ecosystem and Habitat Mapping of Otago Region
Ecosystem and Habitat Mapping of the Otago Region is now available on the ORC Otago Maps (GIS mapping service) website. This will be an excellent resource for describing landscapes and planning restoration activities, recognizing it is at a regional scale.
The ORC describes the service as: "This mapping includes both the current ecosystem coverage and the ‘potential’ ecosystem coverage of Otago. The ‘potential’ ecosystem mapping is an estimation of the likely indigenous ecosystem coverage that would exist across Otago today if humans hadn’t settled in the region. This mapping provides an insight into the likely degree of ecosystem change since human arrival and could be used to inform revegetation and ecosystem restoration projects."
"This map includes broad scale ecosystem coverage across Otago based on the Singers and Rogers (2014) ecosystem classification system. The legend shows what the colours on the map mean in terms of the classifications in this system." Click the link below to access the interactive maps.
Update from Southern Lakes Sanctuary Biodiversity Coordinator - Jo Tilson
Jo Tilson is a committee member of our local branch of Forest & Bird and the Biodiversity Coordinator for the Southern Lakes Sanctuary. In her own words, "The new traplines on the true right of the Makarora are being well utilized by both Southern Lakes field workers and volunteer trappers alike.
Mohua are nesting and the beech mast is well underway with clouds of pollen threatening to choke folk when pushing through the understory vegetation
I am running a monitoring project in conjunction with an ecologist who is an acoustic expert and a mathematician who uses AI to interpret song signatures of individuals. By using acoustic recording devices in Mohua territories, we are trying to learn as much as we can about this species in Makarora. At the same time we are also following birds on the ground with binoculars. This work is not always easy as birds are quite sneaky at the moment, not always calling, and even when they do call they are so fast and up so high that they are hard to see clearly. Today [9 Nov 2022] I had a reasonably successful day finding a few groups and even a nest!
We have also started doing the transect surveys of Mohua again as DOC currently does not have the resources to do this work. Southern Lakes Sanctuary recruited another former DOC employee to help with this survey.
My new bird-dog, Manu the wirehaired pointer x pup, is turning into a fine specimen of a dog and I am optimistic that she may gain her interim certification early in new year which is great as we can then start training on the actual target, which is to be Whio in the first instance."
You can contact Jo at josnowyt@gmail.com
(Photo Jo Tilson)
Butterfields Wetlands, Hawea Conservation Reserve
Nearly 4000 plants comprising a wide range of local native species were planted in the Butterfields wetland area over the 2016-2017 period. Many of these plants were grown and planted by Shaun Collins, a former long-term committee member of local branch of Forest and Bird, and the instigator of this Forest & Bird planting restoration project. The project was funded through Central Lakes Trust.
A good number of these plants have survived despite the harsh conditions, with some particularly spectacular growth of trees at the foot of the escarpment, in the shelter of existing kanuka.
However a good measure of TLC is required to ensure continued growth of all surviving plants. This includes weeding the wire rabbit protection cages and re-setting them in position. The fenced enclosure needs checking for rabbit sign and for any holes in the fence.
To keep this site safe we are organising volunteer working bees evenings from 5pm onwards every first and last Wednesday of the month. You will need to bring your own weeding tools. Suggested tools are a large screwdriver or similar for levering out the steel pins holding the cages down (often very firmly), small grubber with a pick point or prongs, wire weeding hook, gloves, kneeling mat and snacks and drink. If it is hot and sunny, a hat and sun cream and possibly insect repellant!
As this will be casual with people turning up at different times, you will need to wander through the planted area to find other volunteers working. The general plan is to work from the end closest to the swing bridge to the far end.
If you are keen to assist on the project, please contact Anne Steven at a.steven@xtra.co.nz or ph 0212939207.
Anne Steven is a committee member of our local branch of Forest & Bird.
Native Planting at Remarkables Station
It was fantastic to see Totara being planted at Jardine’s Boulders on QEII Trust’s Remarkables Station during October. Hopefully this is the first of a number of planting days on the property in an endeavour to re-establish Totara and Kowhai on the western slopes of the Remarkables.
It was an awesome team collaboration between QEII Trust, Whakatipu Wildlife Trust, Queenstown Climbing Club and Southern Lakes Sanctuary with the plants all generously donated by Whakatipu Reforestation Trust.
Daniel Sweeney, Phil Green and Bonnie Wilkins were there flying the Whakatipu Wildlife Trust flag, Nita Smith from QEII Trust, Paul Kavanagh, Matt Hollyer, Greg Whall from Southern Lakes Sanctuary and Peter Nipper and Natalie Sharples from the Queenstown Climbing Club.
Nat and Peter both got busy on the hedge trimmer and weed eater clearing vast tracts of bracken ready for planting, Matt made himself handy with the auger digging holes and the rest of the crew armed themselves with spades.
The morning finished up with tea and croissants admiring the Jardines Boulders area and our small contribution to restoring Totara to the landscape.
What a special gift this was to the public by Dick and Gillian Jardine when Remarkables Station was put under a QEII covenant in 2018
Thanks to everyone for their contributions.
Ben Perchik is member of the committee of our local branch of Forest & Bird. You can contact ben at perchikben@gmail.com
The Wānaka Trap Library
Traps are now available for locals in the Upper Clutha area to borrow from the Wānaka Trap Library, an initiative of local community-led group Wānaka Backyard Trapping. Wooden boxes, each containing a DOC 200 trap mechanism, and a tracking tunnel, tracking card and chew cards are part of the package. To borrow a trap box, people will first need to pay $5 for a membership to Wānaka Backyard Trapping and learn the basics of how to trap from an experienced trapper.
This project has been made possible by Jobs For Nature funding via the Southern Lakes Sanctuary.
For more information about the Trap Library, please email Petrina at petrina.duncan@southernlakessanctuary.org.nz
Petrina Duncan is committee member of our local branch of Forest & Bird and Communications & Upper Clutha Community Coordinator for the Southern Lakes Sanctuary. Contact Petrina at petrina.duncan@southernlakessanctuary.org.nz
Left - a DOC200 trap like those now available to borrow from the The Wānaka Trap Library. (Photo Petrina Duncan)
So much for gratitude!
From Andrew Penniket: "Last month my partner Sue and I were servicing the Camp Flat trapping line at Makarora and it was a cold day. It was rather slippery and we were surprised that the moss on the ground was frozen solid, as were various colourful mushrooms. A young kea turned up to see what we were doing. It followed us for a while and sat directly overhead as I cleared the last trap, with its head on side watching closely what was happening. Then I felt a slight patter on my shoulder and Sue informed me it had just crapped on me. So much for gratitude." Andrew Penniket (apenniket@yahoo.com)
Pennycook Podocarp Restoration
Forest & Bird are assisting with the Pennycook Podocarp Restoration project on the south side of Makarora township. This long term project was initiated by Heather Pennycock to rehabilitate her QEII covenanted land and we are helping her regenerate forest over a large area of broom and bracken with plantings of podocarps that will eventually shade the broom and replace it.
Over winter a small team continued work at the podocarp restoration area at Makarora with another 17 healthy matai and 19 kahikatea going into the ground (for a total of 74 kahikatea, 17 totara and 46 matai in amongst bracken and broom now planted). We also released trees from previous plantings which have had a very high survival rate (approximately 90%) growing amongst broom and bracken. Trees in the broom have done the best, benefitting from the shelter provided and next year we will continue to slowly expand plantings, including totara, into more of the broom area.
Maintenance and preparation days are planned regularly for late May and a separate planting day a few weeks later. Please keep an eye out for the dates - all help is very welcome as we have 50 more large healthy Podocarps to go in this year.
If you are keen to assist on the Pennycook Podocarp Restoration project, contact Andrew Penniket at apenniket@yahoo.com. Andrew is Chair of the committee of our local branch of Forest & Bird.
Offsetting carbon by planting at Grandview
The carbon forest in Grandview Creek has survived the winter, with decent rainfall and good growth. We are running a work party there on 9th December, to do weeding, repair any damaged anti-rabbit cages, and clear gaps in the bracken prior to next winter's planting.
Although Forest & Bird and Lake Hawea Station have established this forest as a carbon sink, it is important to recognise that it will NOT save the planet. Reducing our CO2 emissions remains the most effective action we can take, and should be our highest priority.
Predator Free 2050 Limited Annual Report 2021/2022
As a major funder of landscape-scale eradication projects, PF2050 plays an important role in the future of protected biodiversity in Aoteoroa New Zealand. Check out the link below for the FF2050 annual report that details how some projects are very close to reaching their eradication goals, and others like Predator Free Wellington and Towards a Predator-Free Taranaki have already reached eradication of some of their target species. The report also covers new field-ready tools that are proving to be invaluable to both landscape projects and the overarching predator-free community, and research and development of new approaches and tools.
Last but not least... Whio in the Blue River
Petrina Duncan tells us "A pair of Whio (blue duck) were seen up the Blue River yesterday [9 November] by field staff!"
Petrina Duncan is committee member of our local branch of Forest & Bird, and Communications & Upper Clutha Community Coordinator for the Southern Lakes Sanctuary. Contact Petrina at petrina.duncan@southernlakessanctuary.org.nz
You can help!
If you would like to volunteer with our local branch, please contact Annabel: annabel@plotlandscape.co.nz
Keep abreast of the latest Branch news and events by following us on Facebook:
If you would like to donate to the work of your branch here in Central Otago Lakes, please contact Lesley (And your donation is tax deductible!): lesleyma2016@gmail.com
If you want to support our national efforts, click here:
Pass it on!
Please forward this email to any of your friends that might be interested in joining us as a Voice for Nature
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Learn more about Forest & Bird
Forest & Bird's Purpose: We Protect and Restore Nature in a Climate Crisis
Forest & Bird's Vision: Aotearoa, New Zealand Working Together for Nature
Forest & Bird's Mission: We Stand, Speak, and Act for Nature
(Photo Andrew Penniket)
Up-coming events
- Spring Talk Series 2022 - Wanaka Backyard Trapping and the Southern Lakes Sanctuary are hosting a series of public talks this spring to further educate our community about the native and introduced animals in our region. Bookings not required; free entry. Enquiries to 021 204 5083.
- Invasive small mammal elimination in upland areas - Dr Nick Foster, University of Otago. Nick will summarise findings across several pieces of research, including the extents of the alpine zone distributions of invasive species, how high-elevation landforms can be exploited as barriers to reinvasion, and how some species persist in alpine zones throughout winter while others move to lower elevations or otherwise alter their habitat use. Monday 21st November, 7.00pm to 8.30pm, Armstrong Room in the Lake Wānaka Centre.
- The Cardrona Kārearea Project - Ewan Mackie (Cardrona/Treble Cone) & Graham Parker (Parker Conservation). The endemic NZ karearea/falcon has recently been reclassified by DOC as “Threatened, Nationally Vulnerable”. The project’s work is leading to greater scientific understanding that will enable effective conservation for the species. A community driven project, Graham and Ewan will share insight into their methodology and results. Thursday 8th December 7.00pm to 8.30pm, Armstrong Room in the Lake Wānaka Centre.
- 2022 NZ Ecological Society Conference is in Dunedin 28 November – 1 December. Lots of fascinating and relevant papers being presented, a selection of abstracts below that might be of interest. You can join virtually : Virtual registration… “ With four streams offered each day and 14 symposia in the mix this means access to the sessions you just can’t miss!” $60 for a day registration or $150 for all three days (GST inclusive).
- Wanaka A&P Show – look out for information from your local branch of Forest & Bird in the WIA Wanaka tent. More details soon! 10-11 March, 2023 at Wanaka A&P Showgrounds.
- Planting at Grandview Creek on Lake Hawea Station is part of our local branch of Forest & Bird's carbon offset project. We have regular trips to the site. We are running a work party there on 9th December, to do weeding, repair any damaged anti-rabbit cages, and clear gaps in the bracken prior to next winter's planting. If you are interested in helping, contact Anne Steven: a.steven@xtra.co.nz or ph. 021-293-9207.
- Planting at Butterfields Wetlands, Hawea Conservation Reserve (see article above). Volunteer working bees are held on evenings 5pm onwards every first and last Wednesday of the month. You will need to bring your own weeding tools. Suggested tools are a large screwdriver or similar for levering out the steel pins holding the cages down (often very firmly), small grubber with a pick point or prongs, wire weeding hook, gloves, kneeling mat and snacks and drink. If it is hot and sunny still, a hat and sun cream and possibly insect repellant! As this will be casual with people turning up at different times, you will need to wander through the planted area to find other volunteers working. The general plan is to work from the end closest to the swing bridge to the far end. f you are interested in helping, contact Anne Steven: a.steven@xtra.co.nz or ph. 021-293-9207.
- Forest & Bird Field Trips. Several trips being planned including to the Onslow pumped hydro (battery) site and Mokmoko Reserve (both likely February). Keep an eye out for a further announcement by following us on Facebook.
- The New Zealand Plant Conservation Network are having a 4-day conference at Queenstown and Rydges Lakeland Resort in Queenstown 4 – 7 December 2022. The theme of the conference is Restoration Ecology. The programme starts with a selection of concurrent workshops on Sunday afternoon, including large scale landscape afforestation via direct seeding, with a field trip to a trial site on the Crown Terrace. Papers presented over Monday and Tuesday look very interesting, over a wide range of vegetation restoration topics from all over NZ. The conference concludes with field trips on Wednesday 7th December including a Drylands habitat tour from Hikuwai Reserve in Wanaka to Mahaka Katia and Cromwell Chafer Beetle Reserve. See the link below for detail.
- Tourism for a Better Future – Queenstown Community Meeting - Presented by Destination Think CEO Rodney Payne in partnership with the DQ, LWT and QLDC, the community meetings are open for everyone and we encourage you to get involved, and bring your friends, family and colleagues. The community meetings will provide an update on the revised Tourism for a Better Future strategy and next steps with implementation. Please register on the form below. 9:30 - 10:30am, Wednesday 16 November. Sherwood Queenstown, 554 Frankton Rd, Queenstown. Link to registration click below.
Talk on the Wild Side - Feral Cats on Farmland with Cathy Nottingham. Organised by Whakatipu Wildlife Trust for 17th November at 5.30pm in Queenstown - Venue to be confirmed. Please check the WWT website and FaceBook page for updates:
One of the team
Each newsletter we highlight people who are part of our Voice for Nature
In July 2020 Andrew Penniket took on the chairperson role of the Forest & Bird Central Otago Lakes Branch having been on the committee since 1997, when he and his partner Sue moved to Wanaka from Dunedin. Andrew describes his background as the following:
"I was on the Dunedin committee for many years, when I wasn’t away for my job as a nature documentary maker for NHNZ and its predecessor, the Natural History Unit of TVNZ. I specialised in underwater filming and that took me to many corners of the Pacific and beyond, from Antarctica to the Aleutian Islands and Lake Baikal, in the heart of Russia. During that time I filmed everything from sperm whales to dugongs, and six species of penguin. I am currently writing a book about those experiences.
When we moved to Wanaka, Sue and I joined the fledgling Forest & Bird trapping group which had just started and we had just one trap line, along the road from Makarora to Haast Pass, shared with DOC. We still do the trapping rounds once a month and it has been a huge thrill to see it expand to about 800 traps on 14 seperate lines serviced by over 60 volunteers, under the expert guidance of Mo Turnbull and his dedicated team.
On behalf of Forest & Bird I also initiated a restoration programme from Waterfall Creek and along the Millennium Track and continued this when I took on the role of nursery manager for Te Kakano Aotearoa, which I held for 12 years. This led to many joint plantings between the two like-minded organisations.
In collaboration with Billy Barton and Tim Sikma, three years ago we initiated a satellite-monitored live capture programme targeting cats and hedge hogs on the Matukituki and Makarora Rivers, to protect our precious braided river birdlife. This has been a great success and has removed well over a hundred feral cats and nearly three hundred hedgehogs from the areas.
At the end of 2021 we also developed a very productive partnership with the Wanaka Alpine Sports Group and together established a new trapline around Roys Peak and Mount Alpha, aimed at protecting alpine lizards and wetas.
It is very rewarding to look at the progress Forest & Bird has made with our many planting projects and trapping programmes in the Lakes district in the time that Sue and I have been here. This has happened with the amazing support of hundreds and hundreds of volunteers and committee members.'
I am confident that, as a group, we will continue to help our beautiful environment long into the future
You can contact Andrew at apenniket@yahoo.com
(Photo Mo Turnbull)
(Photo Mo Turnbull)
We would like to again thank our many generous donors and supporters: DoC's Mahi mo te Taiao/Jobs for Nature through funding to the Southern Lakes Sanctuary has enabled a paid coordinator to be hired for Makarora, and for other generous support; Tupiki Trust (backed by the New Zealand Alpine Club) for funding to exand our efforts to protect biodiversity in the Makarora area; Brian and Jannie Gillman once again gave a substantial donation that went toward the No More Bad Cats control system; Stu and Karen McKerchar from Central Gold Eggs in Roxburgh continue to donate fresh eggs; Wonderland in Makarora offers our trappers a local’s discount that is much appreciated – we drink a lot of their coffee; DoC Community Fund supported the expansion of the trap network by 275 traps over 3 years, and DOC continues to pay for some of the baits we use in trapping. This month, Patterson Pitts Group provided a very keen labour force to help plant our expanding carbon forest.