CONSERVATION COAST PREDATOR CONTROL BUFFER ZONE (26/10/21 Update)

The Shorebirds Trust received grant funding from Auckland Council, Rodney Local Board, and Foundation North to develop and implement a comprehensive plan for a predator-control buffer zone from Mangawhai to Te Arai. Our future plans include extending the predator control area south to Pakiri North, incorporating also the land behind the Te Arai Links golf courses under development. 

The main objective of this project is to collaboratively engage the public, community organizations, private landowners and iwi stakeholders to preserve the high ecological values of Te Arai (including the nationally critical tara iti, NZ Fairy Tern) and coastal area by managing invasive pests to very low densities within the identified Buffer Zone. This project will both enhance the ongoing pest control as well as increase the potential of controlling and intercepting wide ranging pest species that could otherwise easily move across the surrounding uncontrolled landscape into these key areas. 

For more information about the predator control plan, please visit the dedicated website www.conservationcoast.org. Here you can find information on each of the predator control zones, the ecosystems and wildlife we are trying to conserve, how many predators have been removed, and links to Trap.NZ where you can record your catch data. To date, over 900 traps have been installed, and 3113 predators removed. 

The Trust is working with Te Uri o Hau to develop a vision and long-term plan for predator control efforts across their rohe. The Trust has also worked closely with Tara Iti Conservation Manager Alex Flavell-Johnson and Residential Association Manager and Ranger Rob Channing to initiate a pilot education and training predator control program for Te Uri o Hau students in the initial stage of building capacity for their predator control operations. 

The Trust wishes to acknowledge the ongoing efforts of Alex Flavell-Johnson and Rob Channing for their hard work on the ground working with landowners and iwi to implement the predator control buffer zone, as well as the many landowners who have participated to date.