Jackson, who is also a Lake Ōkāreka Community Association committee member and spokesperson, said most of the grant would go towards a feasibility study to see if kiwi or other native birds could be released in the forest before 2028.
The association would also apply for a license to use toxins in bait stations just prior to birds fledging.
“If we can drop pest numbers at a time when birds are really vulnerable, that really helps get bird numbers up,” Jackson said.
Jackson said some of the money from the grant would also go towards the ongoing cost of maintaining the 110 traps already installed in the bush.
BayTrust chief executive Alastair Rhodes said helping community groups practice kaitiakitanga to protect and improve the natural environment was a key funding priority.
The Lake Ōkāreka Community Association are concerned pests could cause the collapse of 80 hectare of native bush.
“The work [the association] are doing to restore native bush and birdsong at Lake Okareka will have a lasting impact, and we’re pleased to help financially to support this project,” Rhodes said.
“Going forward, a wallaby-proof fence and the use of bait stations and drones are tools that could be used to eradicate pests from this iconic area, and we look forward to seeing the progress Lake Ōkāreka Community Association is able to make.
“To think that kiwi may one day roam freely around Lake Ōkāreka’s shores is a dream we would love to see realised.”
When finished, the track will be 1500 metres long and include a boardwalk through the wetlands, making the area more accessible for conservation work.
But the efforts of the team of about eight volunteers won’t be enough to rid the forest of pests.
“Even with the pest control, our [monitoring] of the area showed 50 per cent of the tunnels had rats running through them. The aim is to get that down below 5 per cent,” Jackson said.
Stage three of the project will involve building a $200,000 wallaby-proof fence.
“The problem’s pretty bad when you can see and smell and watch wallabies walking around eating the undergrowth,” Lake Ōkāreka Community Association spokesperson Kim Lorigan said.
Biosecurity New Zealand readiness and response director John Walsh. Photo / Andrew Warner
Biosecurity New Zealand readiness and response director John Walsh said wallabies were a significant risk to native bush throughout the country.
“If left unchecked, by 2025, wallabies would cost New Zealanders around $84 million a year in damage, and over the next 50 years, they could spread through a third of the country,” Walsh said.
Walsh said eradicating wallabies was not a job any single agency could achieve alone.
“It will take everyone working together to protect our forests, farms, and biodiversity from their devastation.”
Walsh said the first step of the overall strategy of the Tipu Mātoro National Wallaby Eradication Programme was achieving containment.
Since the programme began in 2020, the Crown has invested $4m in wallaby control in the Bay of Plenty-Waikato area.
“Control includes aerial and ground baiting and shooting operations, wallaby surveillance, and monitoring [and] installing wallaby-proof fencing,” Walsh said.
In the Rotorua area, the programme has installed 14 kilometres of fencing at Whakarewarewa to contain wallabies, reduced wallaby numbers at Rerewhakaaitu and Ngongotahā through night shooting, and used dog and camera surveillance to limit the wallaby infestation.
In August, the Biosecurity New Zealand programme also committed $228,000 of funding to Te Arawa Kāhui to train 13 Te Arawa men and women in pest control.
