Thanks to the efforts of many passionate locals over the last few months, the Predator Free Onerahi project is going from strength to strength, with over 160 traps now recorded within the Onerahi community.
Through the project, free traps (as well as lots of expert advice) are being provided to local Onerahi residents through the Tiakina Whangārei project, funded by the Northland Regional Council and the Whangarei Department of Conservation Office.
Predator Free Onerahi volunteers ran a stall earlier this month outside New World Onerahi and over 40 free traps were given out to local Onerahi residents in less than three hours. These traps will now all be added to the trap tracking website, TrapNZ, so they can be monitored as part of the wider Onerahi project.
Tiakina Whangārei coordinator, Dr Dai Morgan, says the level of interest and engagement from community members at the recent stall was really positive. “The people we talked to were very receptive to the idea of having a trap in their backyard. We also had a few conversations with people who are already doing some pest control on their properties. It was good to be able to offer advice and talk about the successes that people have seen since starting to trap.
“I think what people don’t realise is how simple it is – the traps are easy to use and maintain and it’s great to be part of a collective community effort.”
“A lot of people are still unaware of the project and the many positive effects it could have in this community. It was really worthwhile to spend some time making the project more visible and having meaningful conversations about backyard trapping which in turn generates more genuine interest.”
To create more visibility of the project, visitors to Onerahi will soon be greeted by a welcoming new sign promoting Onerahi’s goal to become predator free – the first Whangārei suburb to do so.
Dai says by making traps readily available to Onerahi residents, enables the project to create ‘clusters’ of backyard traps, thus creating safe havens for native birds and other species.
The Predator Free Onerahi project team has a steering group that meets when necessary to discuss the progress of the project and plan future actions. The group is working behind the scenes to get more traps out to people in Onerahi, including applying for small grants. If you are a local business owner or would like to help out, please email onerahi@tiakinawhangarei.co.nz.
A big thank you to New World Onerahi, Department of Conservation Whangārei and Tiakina Whangārei.
