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Tahuna Torea Nature Reserve shorebird protection

• Project background
• Vision and objectives
• Volunteer activities
• Results

Project background

Tahuna Torea Nature Reserve lies near the mouth of the Tamaki Estuary. 'Tahuna Torea' means the "gathering place of the oystercatcher". Tahuna Torea introduces you to 25 hectares of unique wildlife sited on a long sand bank extending out into the Tamaki Estuary. It is rich in Maori history as well as native birds and vegetation.

Since 1972, local members of the community have worked with the council to develop the park into a sanctuary for wildlife. Volunteers have contributed in many ways including planning, planting and weeding, track creation and now animal pest control. In 2004, a handful of local volunteers and the council installed a network of traps and commenced trapping possums and rats with the primary aim to protect shorebirds.

Read about the Tahuna Torea walking trails >>

Vision and objectives

Vision

To create a wildlife sanctuary: a predator-free zone for the protection of wildlife and the re-establishment of shorebirds which once lived in the area.

Objectives

• to maintain low levels of possum and rat numbers
• to expand current pest control activities to feral cats and stoats
• to identify shorebird nesting sites and establish animal pest traps around them
• to establish bird, insect and invertebrate monitoring sites
• to encourage students to study flora and fauna.

Volunteer activities

A number of opportunities exist for volunteers. They include:

• animal pest control
• animal pest monitoring
• bird monitoring and nest searching
• creation of educational materials about the project
• planting and weeding
• opportunities for research students studying the impacts of urbanisation on ecology
• track maintenance.

Results

Animal pest control volunteers check and re-load traps twice per week during Autumn (March to May) and Spring (August to December). The results of their efforts can be seen below:

You can contact us if you would like more information about this project.

Updated January 2011