Armed with new knowledge, skills and boosted confidence, another 20 wahine are ready to get stuck into pest control after the Kaitaia Wahine Trapping Wananga!
Kaitaia Wahine Trapping Workshop. Photo: Mae Lewis, Kiwi Coast
With a lot of recent interest from the Kaitaia community, Kiwi Coast ran a wahine trapping workshop on Saturday 2nd December with support from DOC Kaitaia.
Women and their daughters from Ahipara, Coopers Beach, and Kaingaroa came along to learn about the different types of animal pests and what types of traps are available. Many participants had some previous trapping experience, and were interested to learn more about the different types of traps they hadn’t seen before, and new types of lures that are now available.
The day was split into some theory about different pests and a practical component where everyone got to practice setting and unsetting various rat, possum and mustelid traps.
Feedback from the Kaitaia Wahine Trapping Wananga has been really positive. One woman commented: “I feel empowered. I thought it might be too hard, because I’d never set them before, but I did it, and they were easy to set once I learned how”.
Lesley Baigent demonstrates setting a DOC 200 stoat trap. Photo: Mae Lewis, Kiwi Coast
Another wahine commented: “The informative, hands-on approach made new skills accessible for everyone, and we all learned so much. The passion for conservation really shone through.”
The workshop was hosted by the newly opened Drop In surf shop, and started with a free cup of coffee for all attendees, kindly sponsored by Kokako Coffee. Thanks to funding from Foundation North all of Kiwi Coast’s workshops are free and able to be delivered locally.
If your community would like a Kiwi Coast workshop you can book one here.
