Te Korowai o Waiheke is a charitable trust established by the local community to eradicate predators from Waiheke Island. An island-wide mustelid (stoat) eradication began in early 2020, and a rat eradication pilot started in 2021 to test rat eradication and understand the best way to eradicate rats island-wide. Pilot operations will be happening in Winter 2022

It all begins with The funding is to eradicate mustelids (stoats, weasels and ferrets) from Waiheke Island and to run a rat eradication pilot. Waiheke is already possum free. The funding is administered by Te Korowai o Waiheke charitable trust, which was established by the Waiheke Collective in 2018.an idea. Maybe you want to launch a business. Maybe you want to turn a hobby into something more. Or maybe you have a creative project to share with the world.

Over 100 islands in New Zealand are predator free. The majority of these are not populated, however in recent years islands with very small resident populations like Great Mercury, Rangitoto/Motutapu and Rakino have become predator free.

There are seventeen predator free islands in the Hauraki Gulf. Nearly every island around Waiheke is predator free (except for Ponui) including Rotoroa, Rakino, Pakatoa, Motuihe, The Noises, and Motokorea.

The Waiheke Collective is a united network of people with the vision of working together to activate and amplify efforts for a healthy and thriving Waiheke natural environment. It was formed in September 2017 and involves a wide range of interests and groups, including Ngāti Paoa, Auckland Council, Hauraki Gulf Conservation Trust, Forest & Bird, QEII National Trust, DOC, Waiheke Resources Trust, and other local conservation organisations and individuals, many of whom have been active in this space for decades.

Waiheke Island is 9,300 hectares and has a permanent population of around 9,200 people. Waiheke attracts one million visitors throughout the year and the resident population swells to approximately 50,000 people in December/January as the holiday homeowners take up residence.

No, 1080 is primarily used in large-scale control operations rather than in ground-based rat eradications.

The scope of the Te Korowai o Waiheke project is limited to mustelids (stoats, ferrets, weasels) and rats; cats are not included. Te Korowai o Waiheke encourages residents to be responsible pet owners and strongly supports the organisations on the island working in this area including Hauraki Gulf Forest & Bird and Waiheke Island Society for Care of Animals (WISCA). See the Responsible Pet Ownership brochure here.

A project this ambitious will take some time. The more visible signs of success will be seeing taonga species such as kākāriki (parakeet), korimako (bellbird), tīeke (saddleback), toutouwai (robin), weta and geckos dispersing, and recovering their place throughout the island.

The stoat eradication operations will run for at least two years from February 2020, followed by a two year monitoring period before the island is declared stoat free. The rat eradication pilot operations will be May-August 2022, which will then enable the plan and timing for the island-wide rat eradication to be developed. Once predators have been eradicated, biosecurity detection and response will continue to be essential to ensure the risk of incursions (a predator re-appearing on Waiheke) is managed and to prevent them

To the best of our knowledge, there has never been possums on Waiheke Island.

Many landowners already control rats and stoats and fully support the initiative. They have pledged their support, both financially and in terms of the approach.

Auckland Council and DOC run the Pest Free Hauraki Gulf programme in the Hauraki Gulf to raise awareness of steps boaties can take to protect our native wildlife when visiting pest free islands. This campaign is well-known to the boating community and Te Korowai o Waiheke will also be promoting this important initiative.

Many service providers such as Fullers and SeaLink ferries in the Hauraki Gulf have a Pest Free Warrant which requires that these operators have active biosecurity practices to either prevent pests getting on board, or if they do, are trapped in onboard devices. These operators also provide their clients with information in advance, as to what they need to do to comply with biosecurity requirements.  We encourage passengers and transporters to use the ferry and barge companies that display a Pest Free Warrant. Auckland Transport also maintains a trap network and has cleaning stations at wharves for passengers to clean footwear to prevent the spread of weeds and kauri dieback disease.

Te Korowai o Waiheke is focusing on mustelids (stoats, weasels and ferrets) and rats as these have the greatest negative impacts on native biodiversity. This also aligns with the Predator Free 2050 Limited initiative. However, it is acknowledged that the environment is a complex and interrelated web of activity. It can be helpful to work together with your neighbours to implement programmes to reduce other animal pests. Please ask Auckland Council for information about what you can do if you are concerned about a particular animal pest.

Predator eradication wasn’t thought to be achievable at all about 50 years ago. But since that time, we have seen significant improvement and learning, with over 117 islands in New Zealand now predator free. By setting the 2050 goal early, we have seen strong alignment in research and development effort that is helping guide rapid progress in eradication science. In the meantime, we are seeing investment in new tools and techniques that are going to make predator management more effective in the short term. The goal has also been a galvanising and aspiring force for community and agencies alike. Eradications of any sort are ambitious, and there have been plenty of people in the past who said projects were unachievable and unrealistic until they ended up being successful. We know that belief is important because otherwise, no one will try. Waiheke is home to a number of endangered, regionally rare and declining species and we think protection of these is important. Our proximity to our neighbouring pest-free treasure islands is another significant reason to take action.

All Te Korowai o Waiheke staff, including contractors and volunteers follow the approved kauri dieback prevention protocols, which includes procedures such as avoiding kauri vegetation wherever possible, circumvention of the drip-line, and strict hygiene standards when working in kauri areas. For further information see www.aucklandcouncil.govt.nz/environment/plants-animals/pests-weeds/protect-our-kauritrees/Pages