Council grants $2.067m to four landscape scale predator control projects

Waikato Regional Council has granted $2.067 million to four landscape scale predator control projects in the region.

At last week’s council meeting on Thursday, the council approved funding to:

• Maungatautari Ecological Island Trust for its Sharing the Mauri and Mana of Maungatautari project ($1,467,275 over four years)
• Thames Kiwi Coast Care Inc to expand Thames coast predator control and habitat protection ($270,000 over four years)
• Waikato Environment Centre Trust for its Bush to Burbs project ($129,517 over three years)
• Mahakirau Forest Estate Society for its Trilogy of Treasured Taonga project ($201,000 over four years).

The purpose of the Natural Heritage Fund is to help implement the council’s commitment to preserving the natural heritage of the region – native plants and animals, threatened ecosystems, outstanding landscapes and the natural character of waterways and the coast.

Natural heritage projects are designed to protect and enhance the ecological assets for the people of the region.

The Natural Heritage Fund has been in place since 2005 and is derived from the Natural Heritage Targeted Rate of $5.80 per property.

Sharing the Mauri and Mana of Maungatautari project, $1.48 million

The funding helps cover the cost of maintaining Sanctuary Mountain Maungatautari’s pest proof fence and detect and remove invasive pests. The total cost of maintaining Maungatautari’s predator free status is $5.4 million over four years.

Waikato Regional Council Deputy Chair Kataraina Hodge says Sanctuary Mountain Maungatautari is an internationally significant conservation project that has contributed to the recovery of a range of threatened species such as kiwi, hihi and tīeke, and looks to reintroduce to the maunga further species extinct from the mainland such as kākāpō.

“The trust has been a significant beneficiary of the Natural Heritage Fund to date and has made excellent progress with achieving its ambitious vision as a key site in the recovery of New Zealand’s threatened species and the restoration of functioning ecosystems,” says Cr Hodge.

“We consider this project deserves continued support from our Natural Heritage Fund.”

https://www.sanctuarymountain.co.nz/home

Expanding Thames Coast Predator Control and Habitat Protection, $270,000

The funding will go towards the wages of two staff to extend the area for mustelid control and for materials to reinstate possum/rat control in the area. The total cost of the project is $998,700 over four years.

Thames Coast Kiwi Care was set up in 2006 to protect and enhance kiwi populations along the coast between Thames and Coromandel. It has seen kiwi numbers climb from an estimated 28 kiwi to 250 kiwi in 2021, thanks largely to volunteer efforts and by using Operation Nest Egg to hatch over 80 chicks since 2014.

Cr Hodge says the council has supported Thames Coast Kiwi Care with smaller grants through its Small Scale Community Initiative Fund and Environmental Initiatives Fund in the past, which has helped the project to grow and run education programmes in schools.

“This group’s track record is outstanding and that is shown by the increase in kiwi found in this area. Without their project, the local kiwi population would almost certainly have disappeared.”

https://www.thamescoastkiwicare.org/

Bush to Burbs, $129,517

The Bush to Burbs (B2B) project aims to create safe corridors for the increased numbers of birds spilling out from Sanctuary Mountain Maungatautari into the north of the maunga.

The project area, from Sanctuary Mountain to Cambridge, is about 11,578 hectares and includes Lake Kārapiro and Rotoorangia and Pukekura to the west. The project will promote and coordinate predator control by private landowners. It borders the Te Taiea te Taiao restoration project along the Mangapiko Stream, which is about creating safe corridors between Sanctuary Mountain and Mt Pirongia. 

The funding will help cover the costs of traps and a small amount of advocacy and liaison time. The total cost of the project is $1.01 million.

Cr Hodge says there is considerable pest control efforts already happening by urban trappers in Cambridge township, and this project supports their efforts.

“There has been no coordinated possum control in this area since the mid-2000s when TB possum control was stopped. Bush to Burbs will essentially pick up where this work left off but with a Predator Free vision to build considerable biodiversity gains by controlling possums, rats and mustelids.

“This project will be further supported by planting and weed control projects by landowners with help from our catchment management officers.”

https://www.facebook.com/bushtoburbs/

A Trilogy of Treasured Taonga, $201,000

Mahakirau Forest Estate is an internationally significant natural area comprising of 580 hectares of privately owned native forest on the 309 Road in the Coromandel Peninsula.

This project centres on the prevention of biodiversity loss of three of New Zealand’s most endangered species, which are only found in the Waikato region: Archey’s frog, northern striped gecko and Helm’s butterfly.

The project aera is 400 hectares of an intensely predator-controlled land and involves 18 landowners.

The funding will help cover the cost of pest control contractors, with a particular focus on rodents, cats, wasps and pigs, the main species believed to negatively impact the trio. It will also help pay for materials and the preparation of biodiversity management plans.

Cr Hodge says the Natural Heritage Fund also supported Mahakirau Forest Estate Society in 2018 with funding over four years to upscale its predator control infrastructure.

“We’re impressed with this group’s high-level biodiversity outcomes and how they work with the likes of researchers and other conservation and environmental groups to clearly define their targets.”