Rerenga ki taonga o nga manu ki Kotuku Moana – The refuge of treasured birds belonging to Kotuku Whakaoho/Lake Brunner

The vision of Predator Free Lake Brunner is to halt the decline of endangered or threatened species, allowing them to thrive and eventually repopulate an area from the ‘Mountains to the Sea’.

The project aims to eradicate possums from 3,700 ha Mt Te Kinga, protect the area from reinvasion and create wildlife corridors along the rivers and gullies of the surrounding 38,541ha catchment.

The five- year project will utilise the ‘Remove and Protect’ methodologies developed by Zero Invasive Predators (ZIP) in South Westland, create 72km of traplines across Te Kinga and use nearly 1,200 trapping and detection devices.

West Coast Regional Council staff and Tai Poutini Polytechnic students are undertaking the work on Te Kinga and surrounding conservation land, contributing to skills development, a planned Centre for Conservation Excellence and creating an enhanced tourism destination.

The project builds on previous predator control efforts by the Lake Brunner Community Catchment Care Group, Department of Conservation and OSPRI in the area.

Mixed podocarp forests, wetlands, braided rivers and tussock lands and their populations of kea, kākā, fernbird, bittern, black-billed gulls, kākāriki, rifleman, brown creeper and recently confirmed roroa (great spotted kiwi), are just some of the species that will all benefit from the mahi taking place in this unique part of Aotearoa.

The first stage of the project is now complete with the installation of inner and outer ‘monitoring rings’ devised of trail cameras and automatic lure dispensers to measure population and inform a number of key decision points for the project.