Supporting the Community

BACKGROUND

Supporting local community wildlife projects is important to us. Our current major beneficiary is the Lake Waikaremoana Hapu Restoration Trust (LWHRT) which was established in conjunction with the Department of Conservation (DOC) to work towards saving the dwindling kiwi populations.

Early morning mist at Lake Waikaremoana	Sirtrack, DOC and LWHRT staff and volunteers, together with Dr John McLennan, at the DOC tracking hut headquarters at Lake Waikaremoana.	Phil Sargisson from Sirtrack enjoys the beauty of Lake Waikaremoana

One of the key drivers of the project has been local kiwi expert, Dr John McLennan. John began studies on the kiwi in 1982 and as part of his research, he found that at least 90 per cent of juvenile kiwi on the mainland were failing to reach adulthood, with stoats being the main cause of the decline in mainland forests. John approached Sirtrack in mid 2002 to sponsor the LWHRT project for a three year period, thus giving us a community based project and allowing us to contribute directly to the conservation of the kiwi, the national icon of New Zealand. Over the past three years, the sponsorship has included the provision of free transmitters and the free service and repair of other telemetry equipment used by the researchers. In return, Sirtrack staff have been invited to participate in the annual "kiwi call" census held each May at the Lake. The census is used as a method of mapping the demographics and population density and trends of kiwi within New Zealand. Sirtrack staff have always been thrilled to have be invited along, and to have this first-hand experience, as it gives us a great opportunity to get into the field and to offer technical support regarding tracking.

DOC staff attaching a kiwi leg band transmitter	Sirtrack’s Phil Sargisson and Mike Kelly up close with kiwi	Sirtrack’s Chris Milne tracking kiwi up a steep incline

RESULTS

Early results have thrilled the Trust and the Department of Conservation. Thanks to the combined results associated with the extensive trapping of predators, a predator fence, a predator-free kiwi chick enclosure and the ongoing tracking and monitoring of resident kiwi, the researchers have found that the numbers have finally stabilised and they are now marginally on the increase again.

ONGOING SUPPORT

The project has been a great success for both the Trust and Sirtrack, and as a result, we have committed to a further three year sponsorship term which will run until June 2008. Watch this space for further results as they come to hand.