North Canterbury News: September 12, 2019
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NATURE NEEDSUS<br />
CONSERVATIONWEEK 14-22SEP<br />
Events and activities across Aotearoa<br />
conservationweek.org.nz<br />
Nature is calling:<br />
We need to listen<br />
Nature needs us is this year’s message<br />
for Conservation Week.<br />
It embraces any and every little thing<br />
we can do to help nature. It can start at<br />
home by being water, waste and energy<br />
wise, planting natives in your garden,<br />
and being aresponsible pet owner,<br />
through to supporting native areas and<br />
public spaces where you can volunteer<br />
to trap pests and predators, clean up<br />
waterways and beaches, clear wilding<br />
pines and other weeds, and undertake<br />
native regeneration programmes.<br />
This year, in recognition of the<br />
Predatorfree 2050 vision, the week is<br />
focusing on the seldomseen unsung<br />
heroes out there in all weathers, often<br />
tramping long distances with traps and<br />
baits only to be rewarded by removing<br />
dead festering rats and stoats and<br />
rebaiting them again for the next trip.<br />
Trappingnetwork<br />
There are more than 25 groups,<br />
individuals and organisations in <strong>North</strong><br />
<strong>Canterbury</strong> helping to make Predatorfree<br />
2050 areality.<br />
These groups, some new and some<br />
WORKSHOP PLANNED<br />
Afree predatorfree trapping and<br />
monitoring workshop is planned for the<br />
Mt PleasantCommunity Centre,<br />
Christchurch,onSaturday, <strong>September</strong><br />
14, from2pm to 4pm.<br />
Learnabout monitoring techniques<br />
—make sure you are trapping the right<br />
thing and making adifference.<br />
Learnhow to use DOC 200s,<br />
Trapinators, Victor traps and Good<br />
Nature A<strong>12</strong>sand A24s.<br />
Learnabout why the workis<br />
necessary.<br />
It will be afamily friendly event, with<br />
activitiesand talksfor the children.<br />
Refreshments will be provided.<br />
Register at: eventfinda.co.nz/<br />
<strong>2019</strong>/trappingandmonitoringextravaganza/christchurch<br />
well established, have all adopted an<br />
area where they manage trapping lines<br />
for possums, stoats, rats, ferrets,<br />
weasels, hedgehogs and feral cats.<br />
The Department of Conservation in<br />
Rangiora, with support from the<br />
umbrella group BRaid, has been<br />
working to set up atrapping network for<br />
these groups. Its aim is to share<br />
information using the latest technology<br />
and specialist speakers and, above all,<br />
recognise and thank them.<br />
The first trapping workshop was<br />
hosted by the Hanmer Springs<br />
Conservation Trust in early July, with<br />
more than 50 people from 15 of these<br />
groups attending to learn from the wideranging<br />
programme.<br />
They learned about the IT programme<br />
Walk the Line,where groups can enter<br />
their trap locations and data on to a<br />
mapping programme.<br />
Biodiversity senior ranger Sandy<br />
Yong is keen for everyone in <strong>North</strong><br />
<strong>Canterbury</strong> to use this free publicly<br />
available database as this will spatially<br />
show how all the different trapping<br />
groups connect together, whether<br />
trapping on pubic conservation lands,<br />
riverbanks, local parks and reserves, or<br />
even on privately owned land.<br />
‘‘Predators simply do not respect landownership<br />
boundaries, so we all need to<br />
work together if we want to control, and<br />
maybe even eradicate, them from <strong>North</strong><br />
<strong>Canterbury</strong> in the future.<br />
‘‘You might think what you’re doing is<br />
small, but when you see the map of all<br />
the traps (including DOC traps), you<br />
realise that you’re part of amuch bigger<br />
predator control network working<br />
toward Predatorfree 2050,’’ she says.<br />
Anyone who would like to become part<br />
of this network can contact the DOC<br />
Rangiora Office on (03) 313 0837 or email<br />
waimakariri@doc.govt.nz.<br />
The next trapping network workshop<br />
is planned for October or November at<br />
the DOC Rangiora Office. Afurther<br />
workshop is planned in the new year at<br />
Craigieburn/Arthur’s Pass, with the aim<br />
of running three ayear in the Hurunui,<br />
Waimakariri and Selwyn districts.<br />
Tuhaitara Coastal Park<br />
NATURE FOR LIFE<br />
Join the<br />
Friends ofTuhaitara Coastal Park<br />
tkot.enquiries@farmside.co.nz<br />
or 313 1768<br />
Pest initiative ... Department of Conservationtrapping sites alongthe AshleyRakahuri River.<br />
Fire and Emergency New Zealand is proud to<br />
support Conservation Week and working with<br />
DOC to protect our native forests from fire.<br />
Check it’s alright before you light.<br />
Fire season is coming!<br />
We’ve made some improvements<br />
in Fire Permitting, which will be live<br />
after 23 <strong>September</strong>.<br />
Check your machinery for birds’ nests<br />
and spark hazards, and if doing any<br />
spring burning, ensure aclear safe<br />
zone around your burn, awater supply<br />
is to hand and you aren’t going to<br />
smoke out roads or neighbours.<br />
To find your Rural Fire Season Status and apply for aFire Permit go to:<br />
www.checkitsalright.nz<br />
Phone: 0800 658 628 2197<strong>12</strong>3<br />
Discoverawesome<br />
KiwiGuardian<br />
adventures nearby<br />
www.kiwiguardians.co.nz<br />
Ōtukaikino Wetlands<br />
Arthur’sPass<br />
National Park<br />
Packhorse Hut<br />
Riccarton Bush<br />
GodleyHead<br />
Ōtamahua/Quail<br />
Island<br />
Travis Wetlands<br />
Ōtepatotu<br />
LittleRiver RailTrail<br />
2071<strong>12</strong>3<br />
2203823
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