Bay Harbour: July 12, 2023

Bay Harbour News Wednesday July 12 2023
ADVERTORIAL
6
NEWS
What’s our future,
Canterbury?
ENVIRONMENT Canterbury is
responsible for supporting the wellbeing
of our region by delivering
environmental management, public
transport services, and helping build
community resilience.
We want to hear from our
communities about the visions and
outcomes we should work on for our
lived-in and natural environment.
We’re asking for your feedback and
thoughts on:
Air
Clean air is vital for supporting human
health and healthy ecosystems. What
more should we do to keep odour, dust
and pollutants from our air?
Land
Our landscape supports the rural
economy and unique biodiversity, and
has immense historical and cultural
significance. Have we got our priorities
right?
Water
Unhealthy waterways are unacceptable
for our community. How much more
should we do to protect water quality for
future generations?
Coast
Our coastal environment is of special
significance to mana whenua as an
important source of kai moana and
home to a range of taonga species.
Built environment
However we choose to live in the
future, we need infrastructure like
transport, energy and water networks in
the right places.
Climate change
We are already seeing the effects of
climate change on our communities,
businesses and ecosystems. What
more can we do to prepare for future
changes?
Do we have the balance right, are we
doing too much or not enough?
• Tell us what you think
at ecan.govt.nz/ourfuture
TRAPPING: Pest Free Banks Peninsula will be scattering 120 traps across
three sites in Akaroa.
120 live capture
traps set to
target possums
• By Heidi Slade
THE FIGHT to eradicate
possums on Banks
Peninsula is being stepped
up with a new three-week
programme involving 120
live capture traps around
Akaroa.
The Pest Free
Banks Peninsula
traps would only
be active from
August 1-14. The
PFBP team will
spend the last
week of this month
placing the possum
traps in three
large community
park areas and
scattering them around
the Akaroa township,
field team member Alex
Albright said.
He said flyers were
distributed to residents last
week to ask if they wanted
a trap on their property.
The traps will use bait,
such as carrots, apples,
peanut butter and visual
lures, to attract the
possums.
Alex Albright
Albright said staff will
check the traps every
morning for the two-week
period. Any possums
caught will then be disposed
of.
While a considerable
amount of manpower will
be needed to check all the
traps, Albright said
they will be “chucking
everything we
have at it”.
He said the
PFBP plans to
run the trapping
programme annually
over winter,
when the possum’s
food supply is low,
making them more
inclined to take the bait.
“(Possums) do a lot of
damage,” Albright said.
“They go after the
insects, they go after the
foliage, they can eat bird
eggs.
“Ultimately we don’t
want any possums here,”
he said.
Albright estimated there
are more than 100,000 possums
in PFBP’s 23,000ha
operation zone.
After the traps had been
operational for two weeks,
PFBP staff will bring them
in and prepare them for
next year’s trapping programme.
“After the first pulse, I
still imagine there’s going
to be a lot of possums
out there. This is just to
get things rolling and get
things started.”
When asked whether
the traps pose a risk to
pets like domestic cats,
Albright said the trapping
programme is a low-risk
method.
While cats could end up
in the traps, Albright said
they would not be harmed
and team members would
release them very quickly.
“It is harmless and they
will get released.”
He said if a cat walked
into a trap, they would
likely do it at night.
Albright said cat owners
may want to keep their
pets indoors overnight
during the two week
programme.
Climate change
WHAT’S OUR FUTURE CANTERBURY?
We are already seeing the effects of climate change on communities,
businesses and ecosystems in Waitaha and around Aotearoa.
Help us to work together to build a climate-resilient future.
Tell us what you think at ecan.govt.nz/ourfuture
E23/8415
COVERAGE: Pest Free Banks Peninsula is working to eradicate possums
across 23,000ha.