New Plymouth volunteers are sought to help unite urban trappers and take predator control to the next level as part of Towards Predator-Free Taranaki.
The region-wide biodiversity restoration project is looking for volunteers in urban New Plymouth to help expand the effort – the aim is to have one in five households trapping in their backyards.
Project Manager Toby Shanley says volunteers are needed for two roles: community champions to advocate for and co-ordinate trapping efforts in suburbs; and team members to check traps in public parks and reserves.
“We have had a great response from urban residents supporting the project, but now we need people to take the next step, expanding the protection of our native wildlife in urban communities,” Mr Shanley says.
Anyone interested is invited to a free workshop in New Plymouth on Tuesday April 9 2019 to learn more about volunteering and the community champion roles.
Community champions’ tasks will include collating and inputting data on trap catches, being a point of contact for local residents, providing information and support on trapping and helping to co-ordinate local efforts.
The other volunteers will mostly check traps in district parks and reserves.
A number of New Plymouth District residents are already rallying to scale up trapping efforts.
Fitzroy Holiday Park co-owner John Crawford has initiated a new Fitzroy Beach Conservation Group, bringing together about 25 locals to help expand trapping in the area.
Members have already helped assemble 100 rat-trap boxes, Mr Crawford says.
Oākura resident and community champion Sam Mortensen is challenging other suburbs to try to be among New Zealand’s first communities to be free of rats and possums. She set up community group, Restore Oākura, which so far has about 80 active members.
“I’m convinced Oākura can be the first in New Plymouth District to get rid of rats and possums. We’re already well on the way”, says Mortensen.
Towards Predator-Free Taranaki is supported by about $11 million from Predator Free 2050 Ltd. Taranaki Regional Council leads the project, which is the biggest of its kind in the country, and is currently helping New Plymouth District residents restore native wildlife and plants by removing rats, stoats and possums in rural and urban areas. The project will expand around the region in the coming years.
What: Towards Predator-Free Taranaki Volunteer Workshop
When: 5.30-8pm on Tuesday 9 April 2019
Where: Brian Bellringer Pavilion, Pukekura Park, New Plymouth
RSVP: email pftaranaki@trc.govt.nz or contact Chauncy, Taranaki Regional Council on 0800 736 222