A recent collaboration between a business and Pest Free Hibiscus Coast is resulting in some much needed care for a piece of native forest behind the Peninsula Club retirement village in Whangaparāoa.
Pest Free Hibiscus Coast has teamed up with Arvida, the owners of the village, to protect the 4ha piece of remnant native forest, which extends from the back of the village down to the Weiti River.
The forest, which is owned by Arvida, includes ancient native trees including puriri, kahikatea, totara and karaka. It connects with Archers Bush and Blue Heron Esplanade Reserve where Hibiscus Coast Forest & Bird volunteers also do predator control.
Last week saw the first trap line installed.
Arvida’s grounds and gardens manager, Renee Walsh, is passionate about conservation and worked with Forest & Bird’s Jenny Hanwell and Naomi Harrison to install the traps targeting rats, stoats and possums, which she will now service.
Renee says she is looking forward to sharing her pest control experiences with her colleagues and the village residents, who are all very supportive.
Pest Free Hibiscus Coast volunteers Julian Fripp and Pip Stocking joined the team and enjoyed spending time in this beautiful forest, where they were joined by ruru , tūī, kererū and pīwakawaka.
Pip has recently carried out pest animal monitoring in the bush and found that all of the tracking cards she used had rat footprints on them, making it all the more important to start predator control in time for bird nesting in spring.
