New trapping programme for Mataruahou

Project manager of new group Predator Free Napier Hill, Heidi Stiefel.

Mataruahou (Napier Hill) residents can now look forward to more birds and bugs in their backyards when the Predator Free Napier Hill (PFNH) group gets underway later this month.

PFNH project manager Heidi Stiefel, who has been trapping pests in her neighbourhood for a few years, is hoping for fewer pests and more birdlife on the hill.

"Our aim is to eradicate introduced pests through a backyard trapping project. I wanted something manageable."

Funding for traps, which should be arriving in a few weeks, has been provided by the Predator Free New Zealand Backyard Communities Programme.

Heidi says PFNH is one of 13 groups who were successful in acquiring funding. She believes Mataruahou is quite a special location.

"Possums were eradicated in 2014 after a Hawke's Bay Regional Council programme set up to eradicate rats and possums from the Napier hill. This leads to a more suitable environment and more food for the birds."

A research project at the time identified a doubling of tui and bellbird that year.

"Last year a pair of falcons was also recorded on the hill. We've really got an awesome base to start with. We have lots of gullies and big trees so have the perfect habitat for native birds."

The project will begin with traps in three streets, with one coordinator on each street.

"We will hold a street party and invite people to come and listen to a guest speaker who will educate them on how to use and maintain their traps."

Heidi says the traps will be sold at a subsidised cost, allowing people to feel more invested and provide funds to purchase more traps.

"We want people who really want to do this."

The group has a five-year goal to have one trap to every five households across Mataruahou and will also be looking at offering a service to maintain and clear the traps, so will be on the lookout for volunteers.

Heidi says they are not inventing the wheel.

"Roslyn and Bayview Rd have been trapping rats for two years since Predator Free Urban Hawke's Bay was operating. We hope to work in conjunction with Napier City Council in the future to trap on council land and enhance the planting of native trees across the hill's green spaces."

Napier City Council parks assets planner Jason Tickner says the council has had a poisoning programme in reserves for the past 10 years which has continued to keep pest numbers down. There are 200 bait stations left in place across green spaces after the 2009-2014 eradication project.

"We maintain those poisoning bait stations and the team which looks after the Botanical Gardens will let us know if we need to undertake a targeting programme. We will also be working with Biodiversity Hawke's Bay."

Heidi says PFNZ has an amazing network around New Zealand so she has been able to talk with other groups about their operation.

"They will be providing a lot of information and resources."

■ For more information search Predator Free Napier Hill on Facebook.