A new pest control project is underway to bring native forest back to life and create a safe kīwī corridor between Honeymoon Valley, Mangamuka and Ōtangaroa as part of the covid-response funded by Jobs 4 Nature.

The funding comes via Kiwis for Kīwī and will allow the work begun by Honeymoon Valley Landcare group and at Ōtangaroa to extend and join with a new hapū based pest control project along the Maungataniwha Range, near Mangamuka – all up employing 20 part time kaimahi/pest controllers.

Maungamuka kuia Ngāwai Tuson has been the driving force to ensure the ngahere of Maungataniwha Range is being cared for. She says “Mauri of the whenua must not be diminished because that is our life force. There’s so many indicators that Papatūānuku is unwell. Returning the ngahere to good health is one of the best things we can do locally for climate change and the wildlife that belong there. In our human capacity we’re meant to be doing this environmental care, so although it’s a burden it’s also a deeply worthwhile connection”.

In 1962 the Northern Advocate ran a story describing the first sighting of a possum at Mangamuka. Since then possum numbers have expanded and exploded across Taitokerau. But this project is not only targeting possums. Initially tracks are being cut and traps for possums, feral cats and stoats will be carried into position. Then the ongoing work of clearing, recording and re-setting traps.

“Humans have done a pretty good job of destroying the very thing that sustains us, Papatūānuku”, says Cle Tukuitonga of Ōtangaroa. “But our mahi to create a safe kiwi corridor is making our wildest aspirations become a reality. We are looking forward to bringing back what has been lost. Being an active kaitiaki is an education you cannot learn in the classroom, so we are building in succession from the start”.

The pest control will benefit kīwī and wildlife like miromiro, kūkupa, pūpūrangi and pekapeka, the native long-tailed bats. It will also help with the regeneration of ancient native trees – pūriri, rimu, kauri, tōtara, kahikatea and northern rātā - that survived the logging and burning in the past.

Honeymoon Valley Landcare spokesperson Shayne Waldron says, “This funding will allow a huge increase in pest management and co-ordinated community action on many threats to nature. We are taking on a massive task that is a major step forward: from a little flax roots neighbourhood project to a landscape scale community project. ”.

Since the beginning of 2021 over 800 possums have been killed on two loops of 10km of trapline alone.

Each of the groups participating are independent and working together towards the same outcome: Ngahere ora, healthy native forest.

The $880,000 funding is for work over a four year period. 20 local part time jobs aim to turn around the collapse of this ngahere. The goal is to have continual pest control across 7,000 hectares for the total project area.

The Jobs for Nature programme is investing more than $1.2 billion in employment for 11,000 people that will restore our rivers, protect precious places, and ensure our native wildlife thrives. The Department of Conservation is responsible for allocating $500 million to partner projects that will create 6,000 nature-based jobs over a four-year period.

Jobs for Nature funding for Kiwis for Kiwi projects will create more than 200 Full Time Equivalents (FTEs) over a five-year period and will supercharge kiwi conservation projects, including predator control, kiwi avoidance training for dogs and Operation Nest Egg. The funding will be managed by Kiwis for Kiwi, together with the Department of Conservation.

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