Sacred Far North mountain range has 11,000 pests removed

Stoats are a major threat to our kiwi population, and 408 of the predators have been killed in the Far North’s Maungataniwha Range.

More than 11,000 pests, including possums, rats, stoats and weasels, have been killed in a Far North forest over the past two years.

Not far from Mangonui, in the headwaters of the rivers that flow out to Doubtless Bay, a significant pest control project which was funded by Jobs For Nature across the Maungataniwha Range has trapped or killed more 11,000 pests since early 2021.

Altogether 11,049 pest animals, including rats, possums, stoats weasels, hedgehogs and feral cats, have been trapped within the Maungataniwha Forest. The work has been funded from a collective application to Jobs For Nature Covid funding via Save the Kiwi to create a safe kiwi corridor.

“We have achieved so much in so little time, it makes sense to do more. If this project hadn’t started up, the ngahere of Maungataniwha would still be in peril,” Ngawai Tuson, who has anchored the Mangamuka end of the project, said.

“There is hapū and iwi support for the kiwi corridor pest control work, support from DoC and 26 private landholders also have their land included. The pests don’t care who owns the land so we’ve worked to create the maximum benefit and maximum coverage.”

Honeymoon Valley Landcare chairman Shayne Waldron said they started with smaller projects before the pandemic that were miles apart by road but part of the same forest. Now the different pest control projects at Honeymoon Valley, Ōtangaroa, and Mangamuka are joined in a 6733 hectare trapping network, which is still growing.

Almost 600 possums and 4356 rats are among the more than 11,000 pests wiped out from the Far North’s Maungataniwha Range.

‘’We are doing everything we can for kiwi. Now we need to use the 162km trapping network to ensure the native trees and wildlife of this diverse forest thrive,” Waldron said.

“Critically endangered pekapeka, or long-tailed bats, have been detected within the project area. These bats and other wildlife rely on us for their survival”.

Dean Baigent-Mercer from Ōtangaroa Landcare said most of the Maungataniwha Forest has had minimal pest control for nearly 30 years.

‘’But really there’s been very little since possums arrived in the 1960s. It was a forgotten ghost forest. After the huge amount of work that’s been put in we’d like to see the new Government continue to fund this and all the other Jobs For Nature projects around the country that have proven to be successful”.

Maungataniwha is one of ngā Tapu Pou o Ngāpuhi, the sacred mountains of Ngāpuhi, and many other hapū and iwi of Te Taitokerau, with high Māori cultural and historical significance.

The Northland Regional Council awarded the Maungataniwha Kiwi Corridor Project as highly commended in this year’s Regional Environmental Awards.

Maungataniwha Kiwi Corridor Milestones in Numbers:

■ 11,049 pests removed since January 2021

■ 162km of pest control tracks cut

■ Currently 6733 hectares of rugged native forest

■ 26 private landholders included

■ 1757 traps

■ Traplines serviced on average every three weeks (more in summer, less in winter)

Pest breakdown:

■ 408 stoats

■ 142 weasels

■ 73 feral cats

■ 166 hedgehogs

■ 5904 possums

■ 4356 rats