The Forest Bridge Trust Conservation Hui 2023– Building a Legacy
The Forest Bridge Trust’s first Conservation Hui took place over two days at Ranfurly Hall in Kaipara Flats. With the theme of “Building a Legacy,” the audience had the opportunity to listen to ten amazing keynote speakers, receive updates from TFBT staff members and Iwi, and participate in discussions covering a wide range of topics, from gene editing and AI to healthy forests and wetlands, bird songs, and translocations.
The first presentation was by Frank Lepra, Te Korowai o Waiheke’s Stoat Operations Manager. Frank spoke about how, with the support of the local community, the team at Te Korowai o Waiheke is well on its way to transforming Waiheke into another predator-free island in the Hauraki Gulf. Frank emphasized that robust operational planning and data analysis have played a significant role in the success of the stoat eradication project on Waiheke.
A total of 1600 DOC 200 traps, one per 5.5 hectares, are checked every 3 weeks, and more frequently during the juvenile stoat dispersal season or after catching a lactating female. Recording catches, genetic analysis, and weekly sharing of catch data have been essential, resulting in over 180 stoats being caught since 2020.
Many of Te Korowai o Waiheke’s stoat catches are sent to Dr Andrew Veale, a Wildlife Ecologist at Manaaki Whenua – Landcare Research, for post-mortem examinations. Andrew was the last speaker on Day 1 of the hui, presenting on predator suppression, elimination, and eradication, reminding us that stoats are formidable predators.
Being cautious and clever, stoats are often difficult to catch, but Andrew hopes that genetic analysis will offer another tool on the road to Predator Free 2050. As the first team to map the stoat genome, Manaaki Whenua – Landcare Research can now assist predator control initiatives by mapping stoats’ movements and providing information on the best places to put traps.
“It’s not just about clocking up dead animals,” says Dr Veale. “We need to learn how to do things better.”
Cam Speedy, another keynote speaker from Day 1 of the hui, agreed that catch data was vital. “With 20% of traps catching 80% of predators, we need to know why some animals get caught in traps and others don’t.” With over 40 years of experience in deer, pests, threatened species, and ecosystem management, Cam is an advocate for keeping the tools in the predator control toolbox sharp.
Reminding us that pest adapt to their environment, he encouraged all trappers to think like the animals, use the rhythms of nature, find opportunities to reduce the cautiousness, and increase pest inquisitiveness. Teaching animals through food rewards and social cues helps trappers win the behavioural battle.
AI is fast becoming a part of everyday life, so it was great to hear that Dr Helen Blackie and the R&D team at Boffa Miskell Ltd are successfully implementing AI into predator control tools. Dr Blackie was able to report to the hui that the testing of fully automated, low-power, self-thinking traps developed by Critter Solutions was yielding good results. With speed being of critical importance, the new AI traps can rapidly identify animals approaching the traps and only activate when a pest target is identified. Dr Blackie was hopeful that the new smart traps would be available as of next year. AI is also being used to advance trial cameras, providing real-time feedback and data analysis, with its powers of detection being far superior to the human eye.
With the Australasian bittern/matuku-hūrepo being so elusive, it is hoped that the new AI thermal imaging cameras will play a role in helping us protect this endangered native bird. With the Forest Bridge Trust championing matuku-hūrepo again in the Forest and Bird’s Bird of the Year/Century competition, we were all delighted to have John Sumich present at the Hui. John, a retired GP from West Auckland, has had a long-term interest in wetland conservation and restoration and has recently been involved in the creation of “The Conservation Hub” App, which allows people to easily record when they sight or hear the boom of a Bittern. John provided us with a stark reminder of just how vulnerable matuku-hūrepo are to habitat loss, predation, starvation, vehicle-strike, and environmental factors.
Professor Dianne Brunton presented on the translocation of tīeke or saddleback and discussed her findings on communication through song, explaining the different dialects and the use of the song and how that song can change through the generations when birds are translocated.
Although there was a significant focus on fauna, flora was also discussed at the Hui. Dr Dean Meason from SCION presented on the importance of understanding which forests will grow best in different locations and the factors that drive forest productivity. Dean’s research focused on forest hydrology and the 5-year MBIE Endeavour Forest Flows program that he has been involved with. This program is investigating the role of planted forests in water storage, use, and release in the regional hydrological landscape. It examines its effects on water quantity and quality for downstream rural and urban water users, as well as its environmental, cultural, and economic impacts.
The Forest Bridge Trustee Gill Adshead and Hemi Tapurau from the Atuanui Restoration Project provided the hui with a local perspective in their presentations on land restoration. Gill reminded us that it had taken five years of intensive predator control measures to rid Mataia of pests such as mustelids, rats, and possums. Meanwhile, Hemi, who is still on the restoration journey, discussed the daily work involved, working with kaitiaki on 632 hectares, which includes planting, fencing waterways, reducing sediment, and trapping pests.
The Hui also provided a great opportunity to share and celebrate results from Tamahunga Trappers, The Forest Bridge Trusts ecologist Dr Virginia Moreno and Trustee Gill Adshead on the Mataia kiwi. David Wilson from Tamahunga Trappers updated us on the kiwi translocation that had happened in March of 2023. All 10 kiwi are doing well, 2 males are thought to be incubating eggs while another 2 males have been farther afield seeking mates, one having been found and returned to the maunga from Pakiri over 7km away.
Gill reported that the Mataia kiwi are also thriving, and her recent modelling estimates that the original founder population at Mataia may have grown to as many as 280 birds. Underpinning this increase was the staggering fact that one female can lay up to 360 eggs over a 60-year life span – and how, on the other hand, what an impact the loss of a single adult female can have on the growth of the population.
While Michelle Worth from TFBT provided the background to how and why the Trust started in 2013, ecologist Dr Virgina Moreno gave us the results on her recent trail camera monitoring projects and updated the audience on the Trust’s accomplishments over the past 12 months with 32,000 hectares now under mustelid control. Virginia demonstrated how GIS mapping has allowed her to predict the routes kiwi are likely to take as the forest bridge develops. She explained that many of the kiwis she has been monitoring seem to thrive in pine forest as much as a native bush.
The hui was designed to bring together communities, conservation professionals, and academics to evaluate and discuss the outcomes of conservation work, assess the tools and research that will guide us into the future, and enable us to build a lasting legacy.
Thank you to everyone who supported the Hui, including Restore Rodney East, Mahurangi Waste Busters, MERL, and Burke Steele. Special thanks to Ngāti Whātua o Kaipara for their involvement in opening and closing the hui.