Bay Harbour: November 08, 2023

Bay Harbour News Wednesday November 8 2023
10
NEWS
Latest Canterbury news at starnews.co.nz
What a difference a year makes
PREDATOR FREE Allandale
celebrated its first birthday this
month with a community dinner
at Living Springs.
Prizes were awarded to the top
trappers, and each member left
with a Predator Free Allandale
sign to display on their front
gate.
PFA is a community predator
control project led by Living
Springs’ Kaimahi for Nature
team.
The group aims to eradicate
possums, rats and mustelids
from 1190ha around Allandale
in Governors Bay, to protect the
native plant and animal life in
forested gullies, waterways and
rocky outcrops.
Twenty landowners have
signed up, and the KfN crew
have helped place more than 140
traps on local properties.
Team leader for KfN Living
Springs Henare Nathan said the
project has been “a roaring success”.
She said monitoring over
the past 12 months has shown a
huge decline in populations of
target species in Living Springs.
“We’ve never seen anything
like this before – the numbers of
rats and possums are unprecedentedly
low,” she said.
While the KfN team was
essential to get the project off
the ground, Nathan said PFA
“only works because of the
community effort”.
The KfN team has instituted
trophies to celebrate residents’
achievements. The Possum Cup
went to Aaron Warner for trapping
the most possums, while
Grant Zuydendorp was crowned
PFA champion 2023 for his 114
mice, rats and stoats.
Zuydendorp said the secret
to his success was checking his
traps daily.
“I check my traps every single
day while I’m out walking the
dog,” he said.
PFA trapper Seb Double, 13,
runs his family’s trapline. He has
been racking up big numbers in
Ōhinetahi and has his sights set
on both trophies for 2024.
He’s passionate about the
project.
“I love being out in nature and
seeing all the birds,” he said.
With KfN funding ending in
March next year, groups like PFA
are vital to keep the conservation
work alive.
Over the past three years, KfN
has planted thousands of native
trees and undertaken large-scale
predator control work to protect
native species in Whakaraupō
Lyttelton Harbour.
With trappers like Warner,
Zuydendorp and Double onboard,
they can be sure they’re
leaving the harbour in good
hands.
TOP EFFORT: Predator
Free Allandale champion
tramper Grant Zuydendorp
with Poppy ​. Below – PFA
members at the one-year
celebration dinner at Living
Springs.
Bin good with rubbish
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