Kaimai Mamaku Restoration Project<\/a>, which brings together eight iwi and hap\u016b groups across the central North Island to help conservation efforts in the forest.<\/p>\n\u201cFor k\u014dkako breeding, rats have to be under about 5% [detection in rat tracking] before the season starts.<\/p>\n
![\"]()
Manaaki Kaimai Mamaku Trust chief executive Louise Saunders. Photo \/ Supplied<\/p>\n
\u201cWhere rat indices are being well controlled, k\u014dkako populations increase, and that\u2019s why results like this matter.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Te Wao Nui o Tapuika project is part of the wider Kaimai Mamaku Restoration Project.<\/p>\n
The Tapuika field team of two maintains a network of traps and bait stations across steep and remote terrain.<\/p>\n
Te Taiao kaimahi (team member) Richie Emery said the result reflected sustained effort over time rather than a one-off intervention.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re grateful we were able to make a big impact this year,\u201d Emery said.<\/p>\n
\u201cKnowing we\u2019ve given the manu [birds] and the ngahere [bush] a chance to thrive makes the work worthwhile.\u201d<\/p>\n
Workmate Rawiri Faulkner said the motivation went beyond employment.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou\u2019re giving back to te taiao [nature],\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m not doing it for me, I\u2019m doing it for future generations.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"]()
Te Taio Kaimahi Rawiri Faulkner at work in the Kaimai Mamaku Forest. Photo \/ Supplied<\/p>\n
It is work that has been ongoing at a community level since 2009, Saunders said, with Manaaki Kaimai Mamaku Trust coming on board in 2019. <\/p>\n
The Kaimai Mamaku Restoration Project began in 2020 with Jobs for Nature funding and is now supported through a mix of funding models. <\/p>\n
The trust\u2019s ongoing relationship with the Bay of Plenty Regional Council was integral to its success, Saunders said. <\/p>\n
Council coastal catchments manager Charles Harley said it supported the project.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur monitoring shows these locally led efforts are making a real difference, with healthier forests and improved habitat for native species,\u201d Harley said.<\/p>\n
\u201cStrong community action, backed by good data and long-term investment, is key.\u201d<\/p>\n
Climate change had also been a factor in predation rates on k\u014dkako, with warmer winters decreasing predator mortality leading into the breeding season. <\/p>\n
\u201cPeople got us into this mess, and it will take people to get us out of it,\u201d said Saunders.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou can\u2019t just lock up the forest and everything will be okay. It takes intervention and management to restore it.\u201d<\/p>\n
A 2023 census found 113 k\u014dkako living within the \u014ctanewainuku forest boundary – 51 pairs and 11 singles – which was an increase of 69 from 2020.<\/p>\n
Saunders said the success of the current k\u014dkako breeding season will not be known until next year, when numbers are surveyed again.<\/p>\n
Mathew Nash is a Local Democracy Reporting journalist based at the Rotorua Daily Post. He has previously written for SunLive, been a regular contributor to RNZ and was a football reporter in the UK for eight years.<\/p>\n
– LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Its South Island cousin, distinguished by its orange wattles, is officially declared \u201cdata deficient\u201d by the Department of…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":272819,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[5003,154074,2840,11231,16651,1389,2082,3247,154073,96008,154072,39575,130,126,111,43,139,529,69,1118,8617,3263,8205,154071,8213,1327,131,12598],"class_list":["post-272818","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-zealand","tag-activity","tag-700ha","tag-across","tag-boost","tag-bush","tag-conservation","tag-for","tag-forest","tag-iwiled","tag-kaimai","tag-kkako","tag-mamaku","tag-more","tag-native","tag-new-zealand","tag-news","tag-newzealand","tag-north","tag-nz","tag-of","tag-offers","tag-project","tag-rare","tag-ratfree","tag-recorded","tag-rotorua","tag-than","tag-zero"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/272818","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=272818"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/272818\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/272819"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=272818"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=272818"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=272818"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}