Kia ora Russell Landcare Trust community,
August has come and gone, bringing another wet winter here on the peninsula to a close!
Our previous chair, and longtime trustee Vicky Froude recently stepped down from the board. We’d like to take this opportunity to recognise her tireless contributions to the Trust over the past decades and, most recently, her work onthe Habitat Restoration Strategy. Thank you, Vicky, for your expertise and dedication!
We’ve had an eventful month, with the Trust collaborating with the Predator Free Whangārei team to deinstall the following from the Old Russell elimination zone:
- 150 traps
- 300 bait stations
About 80% of this gear can be repurposed and redeployed after our wonderful volunteer team spent time sorting, cleaning and checking the equipment. That means overall ongoing savings for the project.
Check out some of the great photos of the Russell and Whangārei teams!
AUGUST CATCHES 🐀
We’ve achieved another month with no possum catches across the entire 3,000ha project area!
- Okiato/Te Wahapu (Old Russell) – 31 months possum-free
- Tapeka – 11 months possum-free
- Kororareka/Township – 9 months possum-free
Catches of other predators this month included:
- No rats in Tapeka, Old Russell, or Orongo Bay (Elimination area)
- Only 1 in Kororareka!
- The knockdown and buffer areas saw 51 rat catches
- 15 mice, 3 weasels and 1 stoat
If you see any rats, hedgehogs, stoats or possums, please contact us as soon as you can by emailing spotted@russelllandcare.org.nz. Also, if you spot any remarkable wildlife, do let us know!
NEW LONG TERM FUNDING SECURED! 🥳
The Trust is delighted, proud and relieved to announce that we’ve secured repeat and long-term funding from Northland Regional Council, the Department of Conservation and Foundation North. This means we can continue to do the predator control mahi here on the Russell peninsula. Part of our mandate is to work even more efficiently and keep building our community of volunteers, members, additional funders, and donors. We are now working on developing the next operational plan to move the elimination zone out through Tikitikioure.
So thank you all for your support; here’s to continuing the conservation mahi right here on the peninsula.
