One trap app at a time: Community protecting Hawke's Bay's native birdlife

HBRC's Beau Fahnle and Fish and Game's Jesse Friedlander working in partnership with community trapping group along the Tūtaekurī River. Photp / Supplied

A new community trapping group is protecting native birdlife along the Tūtaekurī River, one trap at a time.

The group, a collaboration between Hawke's Bay Regional Council and Hawke's Bay Fish and Game, began the project in September last year trapping from Dartmoor to Puketapu.

The project is using an app called Trap NZ which allows trappers to log catches and build a picture of what's happening in the environment over time.

Hawke's Bay Regional Council acting team leader biosecurity biodiversity Beau Fahnle said they are aiming to have traps covering 7km of the Tūtaekurī river corridor.

"We've started putting traps beside the river at Moteo Pā near Puketapu and plan to work our way all the way down to Waitangi Regional Park," he said.

People attending the community trapping workshop. Photo / Supplied

"River corridors are a brilliant habitat for ground nesting birds, and it's so important that we protect them."

Fahnle said the area's native birds are at risk from all kinds of introduced predators including rats, ferrets, stoats, hedgehogs, and feral cats.

Fish and Game Hawke's Bay manager Jesse Friedlander said the area is used a lot by local hunters looking for pheasants, so this project is a win-win.

"We have a network of hunters and fishermen who are already keen on conservation, so we could see that this project would be a great partnership," he said, "we've got a great group of enthusiastic volunteers, and Regional Council expertise."

Friedlander said the hunters currently using the Tūtaekurī area want to see more pheasants, as well as supporting the native birdlife and have jumped on board with the project.

"We've got 10 volunteers and 55 traps so far, and that number is growing," he added.

With more and more groups using the app, Fahnle added progress is also able to be monitored on a regional and national scale.