Funding means ‘old buggers’ don’t have to climb hills so often

Alan Saunders says an ageing community has implications for the long-term sustainability of Habitat Tuateawa’s activities and conservation outcomes.

A big challenge for long-standing volunteer conservation and predator control group Habitat Tuateawa is trying to improve on efficiency and effectiveness.

“We’re all getting older,” says Alan Saunders, one of the dedicated members and locals to live year-round in Tuateawa, which is a beautiful but remote part of the Coromandel Peninsula that the small community has been protecting from pest animals for about 28 years.

“We don't have many kids here, so that issue of not having young people coming through is absolutely true for us. This has obvious implications for the long-term sustainability of our activities, and for conservation outcomes."

Installing a network of self-setting AT220s means volunteers don't have to keep on climbing around the hills quite as often as they have done.

For that reason, Habitat Tuateawa applied to Waikato Regional Council’s Environmental Initiatives Fund this year to help with costs of installing a network of self-setting AT220s and the funding of a part-time project co-ordinator, and was successfully granted $25,477.96 over two years. 

“Thank you, WRC, because now us old buggers don't have to keep on climbing around the hills quite as often as we do at the moment.”

It is also means Habitat Tuateawa will be able to continue to build on the environmental gains it’s made over the past couple of decades.

Checking the old trap lines.

"We’ve made many changes over the years, including a shift from a focus on a single species, the kiwi, to a broader ecosystem view.

“We initially called ourselves Tuateawa Kiwi Care but subsequently became Habitat Tuateawa to reflect the broader ecosystem outcomes we were seeing – not just an increase in kiwi. 

“Our work benefits all native plants and animals, and people, and it's exciting to see the ecological and even social changes that are occurring as a result of our efforts.”

Like many conservation groups, Habitat Tuateawa targets three mammalian predators: possums, rats and mustelids.

Alan says while many other pests also take a toll, controlling these three key pests are critical to recover native wildlife and restore forest, wetland and coastal habitats. 

“Most local residents would agree that bird and lizard populations have increased significantly in recent years and the bush is a lot healthier. These changes are a source of considerable pride for everyone involved.

Kererū are everywhere in Tuateawa. Credit: Creative Commons

"We had a pair of kākā nesting five metres from my lounge chair not that long ago, and we have also had Cook's petrels prospecting for nest sites in the community – they have not nested on the mainland for over 100 years. They've been heard under one of our member's houses; very noisy, very smelly. We're hoping that we have got predators down to such a low level now, and for so long, that Cook's petrels have decided it's time to come back to the mainland. Time will tell.

“That's the sort of stuff that's happening here now. We also have pāteke/brown teal, increasing in numbers. Kererū are everywhere, with courtship display dives going on at the moment. Tūī and korimako are also thriving and New Zealand falcon/kārearea and pied tit/toitoi have also been observed, possibly making a comeback. It's really quite exciting!”

Pāteke are increasing in numbers as a result of 28 years of pest management. Credit: Creative Commons

Alan attributes the group’s success to four important community attributes: passion, participation, persistence and pride. 

“There are very staunch supporters of Habitat Tuateawa who don’t live here year-round and who don’t go near a trap, but they are happy to come to our fund-raising quiz nights, community barbeques and other events.

Project co-ordinator Nicky Baumgaertner, who keeps “the show going” by making sure the volunteers have the right materials, the right traps and the right work plans in place, says continuity is incredibly important to Habitat Tuateawa.

Habitat Tuateawa chair Sue Saunders says it’s the efforts of volunteers and the support of members, residents, landowners, iwi, donors and funders who make the project possible.

“We hear the dawn chorus, and we are all very, very concerned about our environment. The amount of work our volunteers put in is just astonishing, and I can see the need for this going on for a long time. People care about the environment up here and it's not getting less, it’s getting more.

Nicky says not only do the recently acquired AT220s help tired, old bones, but they are also catching a lot more than the manual Sentinal traps that make up half of the group’s trapping network.

“We have now got 71 AT220s and we've got 74 Sentinel traps which aren't self-setting. We found they caught around the same number of possums, but the AT220s caught another 300 rats in that same time, and we have only had them for the last two months.”

“These automatic re-setting traps represent an important advance in our ability to improve both, effectiveness and efficiency. We look forward to further scientific and technological advances.”

Habitat chair Sue Saunders Habitat Tuateawa chair Sue Saunders says it’s the efforts of volunteers and the support of members, residents, landowners, iwi, donors and funders who make the project possible.

“The continued support of Waikato Regional Council through its Environmental Initiatives Fund has been central to our success. Thank you all!”