The Council has worked with the NZ Farm Environment Trust to bring the Ballance Farm Environment Awards to Taranaki. Watch the video to find out about the 2020 Taranaki Regional Supreme Award winners, the Brown Family of Rukumoana Farms: The Brown Family of Rukumoana Farms — 2020 Taranaki Regional Supreme Award winners See details of all 2020 category winners These awards recognise and celebrate good farm practices and are run in 10 regions throughout New Zealand. All entrants go through a
but it’s more than that – they understand the importance of why they’re trapping and what it’s doing to support Taranaki’s biodiversity,” Mr Veric says. So far 29 Taranaki schools have joined Towards Predator-Free Taranaki. Primary and high school students of all ages are involved by making trap tunnels, or selling traps to their community, monitoring and recording information about predators, biodiversity and trapping catches, or analysing data. New Plymouth teacher Julie Neilson, from Woodleigh
is for our region’s biodiversity. In fact, she reckons her friends are probably sick of hearing about it. “I talk about it a lot,” she laughs. Gillian and Bernie plan to continue looking after the traps as long as they are able and would “absolutely recommend it” to others keen to make a difference to our region’s biodiversity. If you’re interested in checking traps in a New Plymouth park or reserve, contact NPDC Parks Volunteer Officer Laura George on (06) 759 6060 to see where volunteers are
possums are seen, heard or suspected in Oakura and Kaitake, the site of a possum eradication trial as part of Toward Predator-Free Taranaki, then the public are urged to call Taranaki Regional Council on its 24-7 environmental hotline 0800 736 222 or report it online: https://bit.ly/3c7w27H Anecdotal sightings of more native birds and fledglings by the public is promising, but it is too early for any credible trends to confirm native bird numbers are increasing, Mr Shanley says. Scientific trends will
Taranaki Regional Council and Dialog Fitzroy have joined forces to launch a bus service for workers travelling between some of the region’s biggest industrial sites. From Monday two new Your Connector coaches will transport Dialog Fitzroy and other industry staff from Bell Block to Kapuni or Fonterra’s Whareroa site each weekday morning, stopping in New Plymouth and other towns along the way. They will return again in the late afternoon. Dialog Fitzroy is financially supporting the service, so
to visit backyards looking for other food. “If you hear, see or suspect there may be a possum in your backyard or somewhere in urban Oākura then please call 0800 736 222 and report it,” says Max. Towards Predator-Free Taranaki is a region-wide community project, supported by $11.7 million from Predator Free 2050 Ltd. See the video A possum a day in Oākura
to check them all and until recently she was doing it weekly. She’s just cut back to every two to three weeks, as the catch rate has dropped. Becky hopes that’s a sign the traps are starting to make an impact on predator numbers in the town. “Hopefully it’s helping.” Asked why she does it, the answer is simple: “They are not supposed to be here.” “I don’t like killing things but it’s just one of those things that we have to do,” she says. “If either natives or predators have to die I would rather
network in New Plymouth. We’re initially focusing on two of the biggest predators in urban New Plymouth – rats and possums. And to stop predators killing urban wildlife, one in five households needs a rat trap. New Plymouth residents interested in trapping can sign up to get a trap or attend the urban trapping workshops held regularly around the district. The Taranaki Regional Council can support you with a range of traps and devices, offering subsidised box-tunnel rat traps that are safe around pets