The South Kerikeri Inlet Landcare Group have hit two big milestones with 3,000 pests trapped and the long awaited confirmation of kiwi!
Article by Mike Thompson, coordinator of the South Kerikeri Inlet Landcare Group.
The South Kerikeri Inlet Landcare (SKIL) group was started by local residents in late 2014 in the area bounded by Kerikeri Inlet Road and the Waitangi Forest to the South and the Kerikeri Inlet to the North. One of the main aims of the group was to initiate and coordinate pest control efforts so that existing kiwi populations, know to be in the bordering forest and the Wharau Road area, could safely return into our patch, where they had not been recorded for some years.
3,000 Pests Trapped!
Traps were provided by Northern Regional Council (NRC) and with training and advice from NRC, DOC, and particularly Kiwi Coast, the local residents began setting and checking traps on their properties and recording the results. Trapping began in earnest in late 2014 and the total numbers of pests removed by the more than 40 group residents involved reached 2,985 by the end of 2017.
The major milestone of 3,000 was reached in January this year (2018) with the trapping of at least 15 more pests, including 3 weasels and 2 stoats.
Totals: Possums 804; Rats 746; Mice 388; stoats 16; Weasels 11; Feral cats 35; Rabbits 948; pigs 2; Mynah 17; Hedgehogs 34
Kiwi Return to Edmonds Road
And kiwi are back in Edmonds Road! The results from Kiwi Acoustic listening devices placed at separate locations on Edmonds Road properties for a week each in December 2017 were analysed – and the results were positive! Both a male and a female kiwi were recorded calling at the first property and a distant male at the second. Then, to top it all, a live kiwi was seen at another property on Edmonds Road in the first week of February this year. Very positive proof that they are back!
Edmonds Ruins Bush Re-Planting
The SKIL group has also been involved in the re-planting of native bush in the Heritage New Zealand owned land surrounding the Ruins buildings. This had become a total privet forest before SKIL teamed up with Heritage NZ to do something about it. Heritage NZ arranged for the privet trees to be killed and SKIL began an extensive native tree re-planting programme in August 2014 with plants provided by Heritage NZ and, subsequently, by TreesThatCount. Since that time a total of almost 2,000 native trees, comprising 45 different species, have been planted and an ongoing weeding programme by SKIL volunteers has continued to aid survival of the plantings.
Growth in the recent wet months of the 2017/8 summer has been fantastic. The forest is returning to welcome the returning kiwis……..
