500 Traps Expected to Eradicate over Three Tonnes of Pests

500 Traps and 10km of Trapping Lines Expected to Eradicate over Three Tonnes of Pests from Native Forest near Rotorua

ROTORUA, Monday 1st July 2013: Over three tonnes of stoats, rats and possums are expected to be wiped out in an intense, week-long conservation effort taking place across 50 hectares of native forest near Rotorua.

Preparations began today for the activity, with 500 traps flown in to the area via zip line and laid over a 10 kilometre trapping line network within the dense native scenic reserve.

The area will be pre-fed for the next six weeks in the hope of maximising results when the traps are set live on Sunday, September 8th - coinciding with the first day of Conservation Week.

Funded and managed by Rotorua Canopy Tours, which operates its unique zipline tourism venture throughout the canopy, and supported by the Department of Conservation (DOC) who manage the reserve, the operation is part of a three-stage project which aims to reduce the volume of pests decimating local flora and fauna.

James Fitzgerald, director of Rotorua Canopy Tours and manager of the trapping operation, says that the decimation of native forest and the wide scale death of native wildlife caused by pests – in particular stoats, rats and possums – is a major issue for New Zealand.

“We want to raise awareness even further about the true impact of pests on our native animals and plants. This is a huge problem and the numbers are mind-boggling. Landcare Research estimates that 26 million native birds are killed annually. That equates to approximately 70,000 per night. Only five per cent of native chicks are making it to adulthood in areas where there is no pest control.

“We have worked closely with DOC on this project and taken their advice about the traps, pre-feeding and the best way of maximising the effects of the activity. By removing a large volume of pests just prior to spring, we will create a safer breeding ground and environment for chicks to grow and gain flight. Once the birds are mobile, they have a far greater chance of survival and thus re-population.

“Our ultimate goal is to significantly reduce the number of pests and return as much of this forest as possible back to its pre-human state. From there, we would like to be able to create walking tracks and environments that all New Zealanders and international visitors can be proud of and enjoy.”

The three-stage project will roll out over the next five years; after the first trapping operation pest control will be installed across a further 200 hectares and finally across the entire 500 hectare reserve.

Rob Griffiths, DOC’s Community Relations Ranger for the Rotorua Lakes Area, says that the department is thrilled with Rotorua Canopy Tours’ pest control programme.

“We applaud this programme. This is a great example of a business working in partnership with DOC to achieve significant conservation gains.

“James and his team at Rotorua Canopy Tours are investing in a pest control programme that will enable the native forest and wildlife in this reserve to recover from the damage done by introduced pests.

“The scope of the company’s vision to control pests throughout the 500 hectare reserve is fantastic and we’re delighted to be working with James and his team on this significant conservation initiative.”

The extremely time and labour intensive operation has been funded through donations as well as from a portion of the commercial zip line operation admission costs which it has been collecting since the business opened last year.

Canopy Tours staff will monitor and re-set the pest-specific traps daily as well as provide updates to DOC.

In addition to the pest control, the conservation effort will provide a bounty of information about the health of the reserve which DOC will be able to analyse and compile into a ‘health-check’ report from which it can benchmark the impact for subsequent activities.

Only traps that provide humane and instant kill results will be used throughout the conservation exercise.

ENDS

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