Kiwi Coast – Northland Regional Council re-sign partnership

The Kiwi Coast Trust (KCT) and Northland Regional Council (NRC) have re-signed a successful partnership five years after entering a formal working agreement.

Jack Craw, who chairs the council’s Biosecurity and Biodiversity Working Party, says both parties wish to continue their successful relationship to ensure biodiversity gains made to date can be sustained and further amplified.

He says KCT provides a regional platform of support and coordination of grassroots conservation across Northland and as part of the partnership, the council will contribute $188,480 annually to Kiwi Coast over the next five years.

Kiwi Coast Coordinator Ngaire Sullivan says 207 entities are currently linked into Kiwi Coast, 201 of which are community, hapū or iwi-led projects. “Collectively, these groups and projects manage approximately 235,000 hectares.”

Ms Sullivan says the number of entities collaborating in Kiwi Coast has more than quadrupled since the initiative got underway in 2012.

“The momentum shows no signs of slowing down as more Northlanders get involved in actively caring for their native forests and wildlife and link into Kiwi Coast. Supporting groups to connect pest control networks, find efficiencies and maximise ecological gains remain key actions of the KCT.”

Kiwi Coast’s collated trap catch data shows that 591,584 animal pests have been trapped by groups and projects involved in the Kiwi Coast over the last nine years. On average, over 1900 animal pests are now trapped every week.

Ms Sullivan says monitoring data show upward trends of Northland brown kiwi populations and the continued expansion of highly sensitive threatened species such as pāteke / brown teal where sustained pest control is being carried out.

“Over the last five years, the KCT-NRC Partnership has provided a strong foundation of support for community, hapū and iwi led conservation projects. Together, KCT and NRC have encouraged groups to collaborate, build skills and confidently implement long-term ecological plans to enable their special local places and taonga species to flourish.”

Councillor Craw says looking to the future, continued growth of landscape-scale predator suppression and support of community, hapū and iwi aspirations for pest-free peninsulas will further boost native wildlife populations across a variety of ecosystems.

“This will not only support the continued revitalisation of Northland’s biodiversity, but also create new opportunities for threatened species recovery and reintroduction.”