Kaitiakitanga · Caring for our coast
Keeping the pests down so our manu can come back
Up here at the top of the peninsula, our coast is home to native birds, lizards and bush that don't stand much chance against rats, possums and mustelids. For close to ten years, a small crew has been out in all weather checking trap lines around Colville Bay. Here's what that mahi looks like.
8,955
pests removed since August 2016, across 120 hectares around Colville Bay.
The network today
What's out there right now
Around 475 traps are being checked across the project area. Most get serviced once a month, and the possum traps get done twice a month through autumn and spring, when the animals are on the move.
342
Kamate snap traps
106
Possum traps (possum masters & Timms)
19
AT220 traps
8
DoC200 traps
→ Every trap checked, rebaited and data recorded, month after month.
How it grew
From 36 traps to a whole coast
It started with a handful of possum traps in the Water Supply catchment back in 2016. Bit by bit, line by line, it's grown into what we run today.
August 2016
Where it began
36 Timms possum traps go in the Colville Water Supply wider catchment.
November 2017
The wet lane line
42 Kamate snap traps added along the wetland for Colville Harbour Care.
January 2018
Filling out the bay
Another 278 Kamate snap traps cover the rest of the Colville Harbour Care area.
August 2020
More on the possums
25 Timms traps and possum masters added around the Colville Harbour Care area.
January 2024
As part of the Moehau Ki Te Moana project
40 possum masters, plus 9 AT220 and 8 DoC200 placed off Wharf Road.
Now
Inclusive mahi
22 Kamate snap traps, 5 possum masters and 10 AT220 go in by neighbours.
The tally
What we've taken out
The animals removed from the project area between August 2016 and March 2026. Mice top the list by a long way, they love the coastal wetland and they are very hard to trap.
Mice
5,334
Rats
2,223
Possums
1,370
Cats
23
Mustelids
5
Most of these traps sit around coastal wetland and bush, only a thin buffer, so there's a constant invasion of pests moving back in from the surrounding land. We are creating enough of a window for birds to breed successfully as evidenced by our years of bird counts data.
Why it matters
It's not only about removing the pests. It's what comes back when they're gone. It’s about educating people. It’s about getting the community on board and working together. It’s about involving kids in their environment.
Mātātā on the rise
Bird monitoring shows fern bird numbers trending up in the area we're protecting (Edelsten, 2026). That's the clearest sign the trapping is working.
Lizards holding on
We're seeing lizards turn up in the trapped area that just aren't showing in the untrapped bush next door.
Fewer rats and mice
Over time the numbers caught are trending down, and the trapped area consistently tracks fewer rats than the bush we don't cover.
Behind the mahi
None of this happens on its own
Out in the field
Nathan and Nicole McCauley, who put in many hours servicing traps and doing the monitoring, in all weather.
Our funders
Ministry for the Environment, Waikato Regional Council, World Wildlife Fund (WWF) and Thames-Coromandel District Council (TCDC) community grant.
And our landowners
A big thank you to the many landowners who let us onto their whenua to carry out the trapping and monitoring. We couldn't do this work without you.
