Kararehe Kino - Vertebrate Pest Research, Issue 20
June 2012 — Community Conservation
In this issue
![working with communities thumbnail](https://oldwww.landcareresearch.co.nz/__data/assets/image/0004/68062/varieties/thumb200.jpg)
Working with communities and sanctuaries – an introduction
Community-based conservation is a growing phenomenon globally, and New Zealand is no exception. Sustaining and restoring native biodiversity in New Zealand is increasingly being undertaken by private citizens.
![possum Image - Grant Morriss.](https://oldwww.landcareresearch.co.nz/__data/assets/image/0008/67760/varieties/thumb200.jpg)
Can possum fur harvesters both make a living and help protect forest biodiversity?
Can the apparently conflicting outcomes of an economically viable harvest and biodiversity protection both be accommodated in native North Island podocarp forests?
![Sanctuariesnz.org workshop attendees, Cape Kidnappers August 2009 Sanctuariesnz.org workshop attendees, Cape Kidnappers August 2009. Image - Neil Fitzgerald](https://oldwww.landcareresearch.co.nz/__data/assets/image/0005/67766/varieties/thumb200.jpg)
National sanctuary workshops
In the absence of a national sanctuaries agency of some kind, Landcare Research has, since 2004, hosted both a website and an annual workshop for sanctuary practitioners.
![Tui Tūī feeding on kōwhai flowers, a preferred food, at Lake Waikari. Image - Neil Fitzgerald.](https://oldwww.landcareresearch.co.nz/__data/assets/image/0003/67773/varieties/thumb200.jpg)
Restoring tūī in Hamilton
Tūī are are scarce in Hamilton and nesting success is poor – only around a quarter of all attempts succeed – due to predation by pest mammals, especially ship rats, possums and stoats.
![skink predator proof fence Looking across to the experimental predator-proof fence where captive-bred Otago skinks have been thriving. Image - Grant Norbury.](https://oldwww.landcareresearch.co.nz/__data/assets/image/0005/67784/varieties/thumb200.jpg)
Mokomoko dryland sanctuary
In 2005, the Central Otago Ecological Trust was established to restore lizard communities and the indigenous dryland habitats in which they once thrived.
![bird survey cartoon Cartoon - Susan Marks.](https://oldwww.landcareresearch.co.nz/__data/assets/image/0005/67793/varieties/thumb200.jpg)
New Zealand Garden Bird Survey
Monitoring the population trends of bird species nationally is an enormous task, but one that is possible with the public’s help.
![rats predating bird nest Controlling rats increases the survival of native bird populations. Here, two ship rats are predating eggs from a fantail's nest. Image - Nga Manu Images.](https://oldwww.landcareresearch.co.nz/__data/assets/image/0005/67802/varieties/thumb200.jpg)
Data collection and use by community-based pest managers
Why do volunteer pest controllers keep records? The most likely reason is to demonstrate to themselves and others that they have made a difference in suppressing pests and reducing the damage they cause.
![tagged weta A female Cook Strait giant wētā with BD-2 transmitter attached (Holohil Systems Ltd., Canada). Image - Danny Thornburrow.](https://oldwww.landcareresearch.co.nz/__data/assets/image/0003/67809/varieties/thumb200.jpg)
Monitoring invertebrates in community-led sanctuaries
With the rapid increase in community-led conservation projects trying to reduce mammal pests to zero or near-zero densities, there are many more opportunities to investigate how the native invertebrate fauna responds to pest control.
![petrel Adult kuia (grey-faced petrel) sitting outside its burrow on Moutohorā Island. Image - Caroline Thomson.](https://oldwww.landcareresearch.co.nz/__data/assets/image/0011/67817/varieties/thumb200.jpg)
The re-establishment of a customary harvest of kuia (grey-faced petrels) by Ngāti Awa, Bay of Plenty
Scientists from Maanaki Whenua, in collaboration with Te Rūnanga o Ngāti Awa are studying kuia to determine the population size, adult survival and breeding rates on Moutohorā, and what an annual customary harvest would mean for the population.
![lizard New methods are currently being developed for monitoring the highly cryptic forest gecko in biodiversity sanctuaries. Image – Trent Bell.](https://oldwww.landcareresearch.co.nz/__data/assets/image/0003/67827/varieties/thumb200.jpg)
Developing user-friendly techniques to monitor arboreal geckos
How arboreal and nocturnal geckos respond to pest control is poorly understood, largely because no user-friendly monitoring method currently exists for these geckos.
![Al Glen Al Glen checking an artificial cover object used for monitoring invertebrates and skink. Image - Wendy Ruoscoe.](https://oldwww.landcareresearch.co.nz/__data/assets/image/0010/67834/varieties/thumb200.jpg)
A new approach to biodiversity protection: local to landscape scale
Wendy Ruscoe and colleagues have been investigating how concepts from metapopulation theory can be used to improve management for native biodiversity.
![KK publications thumb](https://oldwww.landcareresearch.co.nz/__data/assets/image/0010/71767/varieties/thumb200.jpg)
Recent publications
Some recent vertebrate-pest-related publications.