Old Russell Peninsula being officially possum-free for two years is one of many milestones Russell Landcare Trust is celebrating.
The organisation has been running for more than 20 years, thanks mostly to volunteers aiming to restore the 3000ha Russell Peninsula’s biodiversity.
Trust general manager Ella van Gool said the ultimate aim was to encourage the kōkako’s return.
The North Island kōkako is an at-risk endemic bird, best known for its haunting melody and blue wattles under its bill.
Russell Landcare Trust had now officially marked two years of being possum-free in the Old Russell Peninsula – a 433ha area including Okiato, Pipiroa Bay and Te Wahapu, van Gool said.
A further 225ha around Tapeka Point had been officially possum-free for a year. However, possums in that area were caught only in single digits in the years leading up to the last one being caught, she said.
Possums destroyed trees with their foraging, and took food away from birds. Removing the possums had resulted in an influx of birds like fantails, tūī, tomtits and kiwi, plus sightings of banded rail, bittern and fern birds, van Gool said.
The trust is also celebrating its work controlling rats, a much harder predator to control.
Technical adviser Nik Minchin said monitoring before trapping started showed there were about 16 rats per hectare in Russell Peninsula, meaning 48,000 rats over the 3000ha area.
In Old Russell Peninsula and Tapeka Point, small numbers of rats were caught each year now, showing there were no breeding populations but a few pests, likely swimming from Ōpua or hitching a ride on the car ferry, van Gool said.
Concentrated rat control in the Russell–Kororāreka township, including Long Beach, showed rat numbers had plummeted from more than 100 being caught a month to about 10, she said.
Van Gool said rats were an important predator to control because they ate birds, eggs, lizards and insects. They also liked to be around people.
Rats were intelligent, trap-wary, and one breeding pair, if uncontrolled, could result in an infestation in just a few months, she said.
It was perhaps these challenges that had deterred other predator control groups. The trust was one of just two providing landscape-scale rat control on New Zealand’s mainland without a predator-proof fence, van Gool said.
“We’re having an intensive effort now to get these last hotspots. Getting the township rat-free would be amazing – it would be one of the first urban areas in the world.”
The trust is also about to start a wasp-control trial at Tapeka Point.
It has also created a nursery to grow native seedlings, and is working on helping species, such as monitoring kororā, the little blue penguin.
Such efforts would not be possible without volunteers, van Gool said.
Between 60 and 100 volunteers helped with tasks such as building traps and gave more than 4000 hours in 2025, she said.
The trust had 6500 traps set on both public and private land across the peninsula, she said.
To enable effective trapping, 98% of landowners on the 3000ha peninsula had agreed to access on their land – a buy-in rate envied New Zealand-wide, van Gool said.
“It’s the highest approval rate nationally, we definitely have a lot of support,” she said.
“It’s the only way to do it. You can trap all this public land, but if you don’t go into backyards, you don’t get them all.”
Minchin said offering rat trapping, rather than just possum control, was a key way to get landowners on board because people saw rat problems, such as rats eating through wires.
Van Gool said funding was the “big elephant” in the room for the trust.
Funding from Predator Free 2050 – which is shared with other Bay of Islands projects in Purerua Peninsula and Cape Brett/Rākaumangamanga, and administered by the Northland Regional Council – runs out in June.
The Government has abolished Predator Free 2050. The regional council supports the Russell work, but it too is facing an uncertain future.
Smaller amounts of money have also been given by the likes of Air New Zealand, Foundation North, Lotteries, local group FIXation and local landowners.
Van Gool hoped the trust could secure another major funder soon.
Denise Piper is a news reporter for the Northern Advocate, focusing on health and business. She has more than 20 years in journalism and is passionate about covering stories that make a difference.