On a warm Saturday in March, bunches of people could be seen walking around part of 200 hectares of forests and wetlands bordered by the Te Wahapu and Pipiroa streams, the clump of forested land roughly between Okiato and Russell. There was a good reason: they were on a guided tour of what has become known as the Russell Eco Sanctuary, a collaboration between the organisations of Russell Kiwi Protection and Living Waters-Bay of Islands under the umbrella of the Russell Landcare Trust.
The aim of this collective of volunteers is to restore the natural habitat by eliminating invasive mammalian predators (mostly rats, possums, and stoats) and targeting invasive pest plant species like wild ginger, wilding pines, woolly nightshade, and others. The list of unwanted species is extensive. Some of the tree species vulnerable to possum browsing include pohutukawa, northern rata, and tree fuchsia. Thanks to the work that’s already been done, possum numbers are currently low, as are monitored rat numbers.
When work started just over two years ago in the 200-hectare catchment area, around 2,000 rats were recorded. Now that number has been reduced to such a small level that it’s considered almost zero. The project has installed 18 kilometers of trap lines, three-quarters of which are serviced by a professional trapper.
Early stages of recovery are being seen in species like giraffe weevils (the longest flying insect), tree wetas, black-spined stick insects, puriri moths, and other invertebrates. The first bird species to benefit from predator control are the fast-breeding birds with short life spans, such as fantails/piwakawaka or tirairaka, grey warblers/riroriro, and noticeably more tomtits/miromiro and tuis. The tui population, in particular, has seen the fastest increase following predator control.
North Island weka, like kiwi, are slower breeders but can have multiple clutches each season. If their chicks survive stoats and cats to reach 1,000 grams in weight, they then only need to avoid dogs. Anyone can join the Kiwi Call-Count teams for May and June ‘listening sessions’ to help monitor their progress.
The entirely volunteer group also plans to reintroduce various native birds, such as the NZ Whitehead and the North Island Robin (Popokatea). Their efforts will allow existing bird life, such as kiwi, kukupa, and tomtit, to flourish and regenerate.
As well as their own considerable work, the Russell Landcare Trust encourages residents and landowners to install traps. The project relies on various funding sources but could always use more support.
This article is from Russell Lights, Issue No. 06, April, 2020
