Kiwi chicks get helping hand during National Volunteer Week

Kiwi chicks get a helping hand during National Volunteer Week

June 21 – 27 is National Volunteer Week all around New Zealand, a chance to celebrate volunteers and the place volunteering has in our communities.

Putting into action the key messages in the national Volunteer Week celebration, Project Kiwi Trust installed a line of traps on the Kuaotunu Peninsula on Friday 26 June – attracting an impressive array of volunteers from all around the Coromandel. A large group of enthusiastic volunteers from the Coromandel Outdoor Language Centre were joined by keen Kuaotunu locals. Also mucking in were volunteers from the Mahikirau Forest Estate – another keen kiwi conservation project on Coromandel’s 309 Road.

New Zealand’s first community kiwi conservation initiative, Project Kiwi Trust traps predators, targeting feral cats, stoats and ferrets. The latest trap line installation will help protect kiwi chicks while they grow big enough to be able to defend themselves in another valley, extending the parameters of the project’s managed area. Until kiwi reach the ‘magic’ 850 gram weight milestone they are incredibly vulnerable and stand very little chance against predators – especially stoats. In unmanaged areas only 5% of wild-hatched chicks survive.

Dale Tawa, area manager for DoC says, “Project Kiwi are incredibly proactive at protecting kiwi chicks and work hard to nurture and care for every kiwi hatched on the Kuaotunu Peninsula. This latest trap line will only bolster their efforts and help to protect more of our precious young kiwi for generations to come”.
A total of 35 traps were laid along the Waitaia Loop track in the Project Kiwi area, baited with salted rabbit and sprayed with a mustelid attractant targeting stoats. The DoC 200 traps were purchased by the Department of Conservation, with the installation and bait supplied by Project Kiwi Trust. These traps will be serviced twelve times a year by the Coromandel Outdoor Language Centre and maintained by the Trust.

Kim Lawry, director of the Coromandel Outdoor Language Centre says, “Getting involved with a local conservation initiative like Project Kiwi is a fabulous way for our International Students to connect with the New Zealand environment and make a real difference while they are here. What a wonderful way to spend a few hours, make new friends and get out and about in one of the most beautiful spots on the Coromandel”.

For more information about Project Kiwi Trust, or to register your interest as a volunteer please email Project Manager Paula Williams at enquiries@projectkiwi.org.nz or visit www.projectkiwi.org.nz

ENDS

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