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currently backyard trapping

Areas of regenerating bush in the suburb of Tawa.  Populated primarily by a lowland forest type of Tawa / Kohekohe canope; an understory of Pseudopanax, Kawakawa, and Coprosma species; regerating areas of Mahoe and Matipu; and the occassional emergent of Rewarewa, Kaihikatia and Miro. 

Pest control includes bait stations and DoC 200 traps. Maintenance of the pest control infrastructure has been carried out by volunteers belonging to the group "Friends of Tawa Bush Reserves"  http://tawabush.org.nz

Coords 1) S40deg 53.862' - E 175deg 01.744'
2) S40deg 53.880' - E175deg 01.772'
3) S40deg 53.898' - E175deg 01.754'
4) S40deg 53.960' - E175deg 01.836'
5) S40deg 53.915' - E 175deg 01.941'
6) S40deg 53.805' - E175deg 01.804'

The Manor Park restoration project was initiated by Old Blue recipient Russell Bell. Lower Hutt Branch is working to establish an eco corridor across the Hutt Valley at Silverstream (See Eco corridors) We have permission to clear weeds and plant on the northern end of the Manor Park Golf Course, KiwiRail land, and some riverside land administered by Greater Wellington.

A new thrust at the Park has been the introduction of intensive pest control. Because of the large amount of grass present, there is a healthy mouse population that exploit the annual production of grass seed in the Autumn. Also we know that there are about 10 rats per hectare in a place like Manor Park, giving about thirty rats present at any time. Bait stations have been placed on a grid roughly 20 metres by 20 metres using Brodifacoum, and this seems to be working well. Progress can be measured using tracking tunnels. The Lower Hutt Branch purchased bait and traps from Greater Wellington Regional Council and received good support from Hutt City Council. With appropriate pest control of rats and mustelids, there is a desire to re-introduce skinks back to the area.

One of a number of highlights at Manor Park was its dubbing as an unofficial skink sanctuary! In short, a proposed sub­division at Kelson saw us put in a formal submission to the developer, that included the request for a herpetological survey be done at the site before the bulldozers moved in. The survey, to be done by the professional lizard experts EcoGecko, used a hundred pitfall traps over two weeks. This produced 63 skinks (a third gravid) of two species, being the Common Skink (Oligosoma polychroma) and the Copper Skink (Cyclodina aenea). The Department of Conservation considered the pest control work being done at the park was enough to allow the skinks to start a new life in the safety of Manor Park, where, along with rat and mouse control, twelve hedgehogs are now resting in their hedgehog heaven!

one box rat trap, one opossum cage and some rat baits in the garden shed.

Long term eco-restoration of flora and fauna of A'Deane's Bush and surrounding area. This includes predator control with 50 traps within the bush and 45 traps in the halo - effectively trapping close to 1000ha now. Rats are controlled through a bait station grid. Old mans beard is controlled annually, locally sourced and grown natives are used to revegetate the area around the Bush, and native species are surveyed annually to see the response to predator control. Tititipounamu /Rifleman, which have been locally extinct for many years, have been re-introduced to the Bush and are establishing a population there.

Predator control on Haulashore island to protect bird life and lizards