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;
than people might think it is and it’s not yucky at all,” she says. Other work for the project is also underway including research and technology, helping inform work with rural Taranaki, which will be rolled out in different phases around the region. Residents wanting to sign-up or register their interest in the project can do so here: https://www.trc.govt.nz/environment/working-together/pf-taranaki2050/#Registration Related links Taranaki Taku Turanga - Towards a Predator-Free Taranaki
A Taranaki grandmother who bought 12 rat-traps for her mokopuna says she wants them to give the koha back to taio (the environment) this Christmas. The grandmother, who asked not to be named so the gifts were still a surprise to her family, says her twelve mokopuna will find their traps unwrapped under the Christmas tree or on an outdoor treasure hunt. “They won’t be wrapped because that’s more waste in our environment. It’s important we’re teaching our mokopuna the importance of looking after
of the program. Rural trapping technologyThis is based on the LoRa platform, described as “a very low-power wireless sensor network”. A wireless node will be placed on traps that are difficult to get to in the network. The nodes will send alerts to landowners, notifying them when a trap is sprung so they know when to reset it. Initially trap checking will be done by a contractor, but after one or two checks and testing of the wireless devices it will become the landowner’s responsibility to check
need to log all catches and their location at www.trap.nz so the region’s efforts can be monitored and any gaps spotted,” she says. “This will help us stop the deterioration of biodiversity, giving a better picture of how trapping is helping restore native wildlife and plants, or where it needs strengthening.” Almost 500 tracking tunnels are around New Plymouth district and bush near Egmont National Park, monitoring rodent and hedgehog numbers. Another 360 cameras monitor around the national park
country. Other highlights in the past year include: Eradicating all possums from Oakura is getting closer. Phenomenal support from Oākura urban and rural residents has seen 53 possums caught in town and 140 in rural Oākura in the past four months. It’s now critical residents report any suspected possums on 0800 736 222 or online at www.trc.govt.nz/possum to help catch every last one.
New Plymouth school students are leading urban efforts, with 33 primary and secondary schools participating in urban
councils, schools and residents to restore local biodiversity. Further work is underway preparing for the re-release of Kiwi back to the Kaitake range and Pukeiti’s rainforest in early 2020 by Taranaki Mounga. “We know that native wildlife like kiwi, are more likely to survive because of intensive predator control,” Mr Shanley says. To support the return of native birds to the area it’s vital the Kaitake community reports any possums in the area on 0800 736 222 or online: https://bit.ly/36AvDaV It’s
of Taranaki Mounga Project, large-scale projects which are scaling up predator control. The work is also feeding into the region-wide biodiversity plan, Restore Taranaki, overseen by Wild for Taranaki. “It’s all working towards the same thing – having more native birds, wildlife and plants, intertwined within our daily lives. It’s pretty cool,” he says. It’s just a matter of time before more residents wake up to the beauty he experiences on a daily basis. To start or expand trapping in your
Please note the changes to Southlink services over the Christmas-New year fortnight: Ōpunake-Hāwera: No service on Thursday 26 December or Thursday 2 January, A one-off service runs on Tuesday 31 December (usual timetable). Waverley-Hāwera: No service on Thursday 26 December or Thursday 2 January. Normal services will run on Tuesday 24 December and Tuesday 31 December. Ōpunake-New Plymouth: No change to timetabled services. All regular timetabless resume from Tuesday 7 January 2020. Regular
and uses of river and lake beds are allowed only if authorised by a resource consent
or by a rule in this Plan (or by regulations). This means that unless a specific rule in
this section of the Plan provides otherwise, then it will be necessary for the activities
governed by those sections to be authorised by a resource consent obtained under
Part VI of the Act.
Advisory note: As from 1 May 2018, this Plan is amended to align with the Resource
Management (National Environmental Standards