Biodiversity

Taupo Swamp volunteer planting and weeding day

/ / Biodiversity, Working Bees

Friends of Taupo Swamp & Catchment need your help – even an hour will make a difference! They are ready to go to get another 1800 wetland plants into the ground this season, having raised the money and ordered the plants from local nurseries. Stage two of the Taupo Swamp Wetland Restoration starts this Saturday, June 6.

When: 9am, Saturday, 6 June 2020 (ics, Facebook)
Where: Taupo Swamp, via Ulric Street, Plimmerton (map)

Work this weekend will be continuing to weed last year’s planting (some trees are now over 2 metres tall) and preparing the ground for the upcoming planting season. Gloves, gear and a morning snack can be provided thanks to Roger at Plimmerton Deli. Want to get in touch? Contact the organisers at tauposwamp@gmail.com or +64 21 263 9844 (?).

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Kororā sign planting (Take 2!)

/ / Announcements, Biodiversity, Wildlife, Working Bees /

Next Thursday (14 June) at 10.30 am, Pukerua Bay School children will be planting the area around the new Kororā (Little Blue Penguin) sign on the beach, at the start of the coastal walk track. The sign is for promoting the protection and conservation of the penguins.

Come and join us!

Image CC-BY-SA courtesy of Wikimedia Commons

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Friends of Mana Island 2018 AGM

/ / Biodiversity, Friends of Mana Island, Meeting

Wednesday, 21 March 2018
7.30 pm, Mana Cruise Club
Ngāti Toa Domain, Paremata (map)

You are warmly invited to attend the Friends of Mana AGM featuring a talk by seabird expert Graeme Taylor from the Department of Conservation about our planned translocation of white-faced storm petrels. There are plenty of challenges moving chicks from the Chathams to Mana Island.

You will also hear updates about FOMI’s work during the past year. And the evening marks the beginning of FOMI’s 20th anniversary this year – “Celebrating Our Volunteers”. Find out first-hand what’s happening, including a special preview of a 3-minute video produced for the anniversary.

As part of the election of officers, FOMI will be seeking to elect a new president.

Supper afterwards. It’s going to be a very interesting evening!

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Predator-free Pukerua Bay March and April 2017 update

/ / Biodiversity, Wildlife / ,

This month’s update (PDF) is published on behalf of the Predator Free Pukerua Bay project. If you are interested in participating, email predatorfreepkb@gmail.com for more information.

Autumn is definitely with us now – longer, cooler nights means that rats and mice are looking for warmer lodgings. It’s a great time to check your roof cavities and out-buildings for signs of rats and mice and place traps accordingly. We had great success at our house just by moving our trap into the garden shed (previously, it was just outside by the shed door): we caught a mouse and a rat that very night! We have also heard of others putting a little bit of bait at the tunnel entrance as a lure, which has been successful.

March and April’s 2017’s reported catches

March and April’s catch numbers continue to increase.

Total reported catches since 12 November 2016: 262 rats; 375 mice; 10 mustelids (all in the Scientific Reserve); and 32 hedgehogs.

Reported catches, to April 2017.

Welcome on board to our newest trappers! At the end of April, we have 102 properties involved in Predator-free Pukerua Bay (about 14 percent of all Pukerua Bay properties). All of the original 90 traps/tunnels provided by the Department of Conservation have now been sponsored – what a great effort from the community! …

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Te Araroa Track progress, March 2017

/ / Biodiversity, Working Bees / , ,
We had a good day on Saturday. The weather behaved, and three new people turned up (Mike, Alan and Simon) and then there were the usual suspects!
Gay and John Hay weeded the entrance area and spread mulch around. We carried on further along the track. Mike removed the wattles growing behind Pamela’s fence while we released ti kouka (cabbage trees) and harakeke (flax) at Reveg area 1. We then walked further again along the track and removed wild fennel and ragwort from where the track starts to go up the hill, approximately Reveg area 4.

We have confirmed planting dates for Sunday May 28th, June 25th and July 30th beginning at 9.30am.

Te Araroa track working bee: before and after.

Te Araroa track working bee: before and after.

Te Araroa track working bee: before and after.

Thanks to Gay, Vicky and Paul for organising the working bee.
https://twitter.com/NgaUruora1
https://www.facebook.com/nga.uruora/

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Pest-free Pukerua Bay public meeting

/ / Announcements, Biodiversity /

pest-free-320Saturday 12 November 2016, 10 am at the Pukerua Bay School Hall. See more event details.

A community-led initiative to make Pukerua Bay pest-free, that is, free of mustelids and rats, to encourage native birds, lizards and invertebrates to return. Join the group on Facebook, or email them (see event details).

Rat traps and tunnels courtesy of Department of Conservation, to keen Pukerua Bay trappers for a $20 donation, which will help buy more traps.

Kelvin Hastie will be there to share his experiences making Crofton Downs Wellington’s first pest–free suburb and we will demonstrate how to use traps and get started. We will also have a speaker from the Kāpiti Biodiversity Project.

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