To understand our collective efforts and so we know how effective the Tiakina Whangarei project is we need to measure the impact our mahi is having. This means getting your help to count your catches!
There are several ways that this can be done, ranging from: recording pests caught in your backyard traps, recording the number of people and the amount of time that they donate to Tiakina Whangarei activities, or measuring changes in pest or wildlife populations before and after pest control.
Trap.NZ – Online Recording Tool
Trap.NZ is a tool that allows you to keep online records of traps catches. It is available either online or as a downloadable app. Trap.NZ is easy to use and will allow us to determine how many pests are being removed from Whangarei. Click here to download instructions on how to join the Tiakina Whangarei project on Trap.NZ and enter data.
Monitoring Native Species
One of the main reasons why we do pest control is to protect and promote native biodiversity (although, we may also want to get rid of vermin from our homes or reduce the number of fruit taken off our trees!).
Doing some biodiversity monitoring is one way that we will know that your pest control is being successful. There are a number of established monitoring programs that you may like to take part in. For example:
The New Zealand Garden Bird Survey
The Great Kereru Count (although, we call them kukupa up here!)
Helping the Pukenui Western Hills Forest Trust with their kiwi call counts
In addition, the Northland Branch of Birds New Zealand have started monitoring birds across Whangarei using the five-minute bird count method. If you would like to learn more about this, please get in touch with the Regional Representative for Northland.
Monitoring Pests
In addition to recording the number of pests that are removed from Whangarei, it is also important to determine how many are left. The Tiakina Whangarei project will be surveying pests populations across Whangarei on a regular basis, however, you may like to consider doing some monitoring to determine the presence or absence of pests in your area using:
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