Happy New Year – Ngā mihi o te tau hau!
 
Hope your year is off to a great start! Thanks to everyone who has sent in their 2020 pest control results so far. The data coming in paints a story for each project – new pest records hit for some, sustained low levels for others, project expansions thanks to new funds gained, or trapping intensifications to help rare wildlife fledge chicks – but across it all - the sheer hard work of regular trapping rounds and sustaining projects year after year.
 
Huge thanks to each and every one of you for all that you do. With 172 entities linked into Kiwi Coast as at January 1, 2021, and collectively managing over 202,000 hectares, together we are making a tangible difference to Northland’s native forests and wildlife.
 
Project Island Song’s pest free islands have led to the successful reintroduction of wētāpunga this summer; Russell Kiwi Protection’s sustained low pest levels provide an opportunity to consider a tīeke translocation; and Kiwi Coast’s five-yearly Kaka & Bellbird Survey will hopefully document their natural return and expansion on the Northland mainland over time too.

The future is looking bright indeed!

Ngaire, Andrew, Lesley and Amy – your Kiwi Coast Coordinators.

Project Island Song Reintroduce Wētāpunga to Northland
 

One of the world’s heaviest insects, wētāpunga or giant weta, have been reintroduced to Northland by Project Island Song after at least a 180-year absence. An exciting three-year re-introduction programme through a partnership between Project Island Song and Auckland Zoo has seen the first 100+ wētāpunga (Deinacrida heteracantha), bred at Auckland Zoo, released onto three of the pest-free islands of Ipipiri in the eastern Bay of Islands this summer.
Read this article by Project Island Song...