News Articles

Tipunakore Rangiwai (centre) celebrating his achievement with Ngahina Capper and Sean Zieltjes

The first apprentice ranger to graduate with Taranaki Mounga Project has blazed the trail for others to follow.

Tipunakore Rangiwai recently celebrated completing the two-year kaiwhakamōkihi/trainee ranger programme and is now part of the Te Kāhui o Taranaki Toa Taiao team working as a ranger to protect pā and other special places within the takiwā of Taranaki Iwi.

Tipunakore says it feels amazing to have completed the apprenticeship and he has enjoyed gaining experience with like-minded people in the same environment.

“It was a good apprenticeship with everything packed into it; lots of seminars, meeting people and gaining knowledge. I’d recommend it to anyone and everyone. It feels like it’s where I’m meant to be –working with the whenua.”

He joined Taranaki Mounga Project four years ago when he was 16 and helped inform the development of the apprentice programme, of which 4 others are also part of and will be graduating later this year.

Taranaki Mounga Project co-director Sean Zieltjes said Tipunakore had brought so much to the team, especially his courage and grit.

“We wouldn’t have gone after the apprentice programme the way we have without Tipunakore.  A lot of the thinking behind it has been informed by him and his ideas. It’s been mutually reciprocal for us.

“Jessi and the team at Predator Free NZ Trust have backed his ideas and supported us to create and deliver 5 apprentice roles overall.”

Tipunakore’s role was part-funded through Predator Free NZ Trust as part of a nationwide programme to train more animal pest control specialists to support the predator-free vision.

The programme involved on-the-job training as well as study through the Te Kura Matatini –  Western Institute of Technology (WITT) and training provider Feats Pae Tawhiti.

More kiwi were released onto Kaitake on April 5, joining a growing population.

A ceremony at Ōākura School yesterday signalled the start of kiwi release season with students from a range of coastal schools  getting the chance to see five kiwi up close before they were released into bush on Kaitake.

About 20 kiwi will be released on Taranaki Maunga and Kaitake area over the next few months. It’s the fourth year that kiwi bred in the Taranaki Kohanga Kiwi at Rotokare, a partnership between the Taranaki Kiwi Trust and the Rotokare Scenic Reserve Trust, near Eltham, will be moved to new homes within Te Papakura o Taranaki (Egmont National Park).

Taranaki Kiwi Trust Ranger Toby Shanley said most of the 20 kiwi released in the last two years had paired up and had chicks. He estimated the kiwi population on Kaitake was now at least 30-40. “We know from our monitoring they are having chicks, although we don’t have exact numbers as the next generation are not electronically tagged.”

Department of Conservation Taranaki Operations Manager Gareth Hopkins says the release is a prime example of the partnership with the community working well. “Throughout the community everyone has rallied together to control pests. It’s because of all that hard work from rangers and volunteers that we’re able to keep releasing kiwi and enjoy seeing other native species coming back.”

Taranaki Mounga Project co-director Sera Gibson said almost all possums on Kaitake were gone due to trapping efforts, thanks to staff across organisations and a large number of dedicated volunteers. “We’re continuing to keep at it to suppress predators and now focusing on stoats and rats, along with extending our trapping network right around the maunga.”

The ceremony was a good celebration for the multiple groups involved including Ngā Mahanga a Tāiri hapū, Department of Conservation, the Kaitake Ranges Conservation Trust, Te Ara Taiao, schools, Rotokare  Scenic Reserve Trust and the Taranaki Kiwi Trust.

Tāne Manu, from Te Ara Taiao – an environmental educational programme working with schools, hapū and conservation groups, said the ceremony was for all the young people there, many of whom had been involved with trapping and monitoring birds. “These taonga are for our children and generations to come,” he said.

With increasing numbers of kiwi it was crucial that dogs, which are illegal in Te Papa Kura o Taranaki, are kept away. Cameras are still capturing people walking their dogs on Kaitake.

We are delighted to announce Ngahina Capper to the role of Operations Manager for Taranaki Mounga Project, starting in late April.

Ngahina is looking forward to being part of the project in the newly-created role, serving our tūpuna Mounga, and helping enhance the health and well-being of Te Papakura o Taranaki.

“I am excited about the opportunity of collaboration and partnership, the opportunity to work with iwi, hapū, key stakeholders and the community to collaborate on what the future might look like on our tūpuna Mounga for our tamariki and mokopuna,” he said.

For the past four years Ngahina has worked as Kaitiaki Whenua with Te Kāhui o Taranaki – a role that was initiated through a partnership with DOC, helping grow and develop its taiao team.

Prior to that he had nearly 20 years working in the mining and petrochemical industry across Australasia where he held a variety of leadership positions, before completing a stint as operations manager for Taranaki Rugby League.

Ngahina enjoys spending time with his whānau, including his seven children and one mokopuna, and has a new-found passion for helping establish his own whānau papakāinga. He also spends his spare time at rugby league and working with young people to help them reach their potential.

He has whakapapa to Te Ātiawa, Taranaki, Ngāti Ruanui, Ngā Ruahine, Ngāti Mutunga, Ngāti Tama, Ngāti Maru, Ngāti Maniapoto.

The Operations Manager role enables Co-Project Managers Sera Gibson and Sean Zieltjes to focus on the broader work programme of the project.

Sean says he is looking forward to having Ngahina on board. “We were really lucky with the high calibre of applicants we received and it puts us in a fantastic position for the future of Taranaki Mounga Project.”

Ka whakamahi ana a Mereana i te pūngao hei whakaora i tōu tātou koroheke mounga. Ahakoa he uaua, ahakoa te kino o te kano-ā-rangi, ka whakakikī tonu tōna kete mātauranga.

Mereana Hanrahan never realised how much technology was involved in restoration efforts on Taranaki Mounga and the Kaitake Ranges.

“It’s been a big learning curve – it was really surprising how much tech was here,” she says, nearly two years into her role as an apprentice ranger with Taranaki Mounga Project.

The lingo – ‘sat’ box, nodes and Lean Detection System – rolls off her tongue as she explains some of the cutting edge tools and processes used by the team.

The Lean Detection System has been important for dramatically lowering possum numbers in the Kaitake Ranges and supporting native species to come back. Mereana explains that seeing more flowering kiekie is one example pointing to improved biodiversity – possums love to eat the sweet flowers so they used to be rarely seen.

The trapping system uses satellite technology, connecting leg-traps digitally via ‘nodes’. Rangers are alerted via their phones when a trap is set off.  The Zip Outpost and Zip PosStop traps, developed and trialled by Zip, are simple, humane and save time, as traps don’t need to be unnecessarily checked.

“Just call us tech geniuses,” she jokes, as she explains some of the problem-solving required when things don’t work quite as they should.

Occasionally the signal can get blocked between traps, say from wind or fallen trees. That means walking up a trap line to figure out the problem and using a “tech in the bush” approach – trial and error working with the equipment and technology in the landscape.

There is also a network of cameras fixed to trees, providing data of how traps and lures are working and what predators are in the area -leading to identify increased numbers of feral cats.

Mereana says it’s physically demanding mahi, however she loves connecting with the whenua and the diversity of being a ranger, which includes helping DOC monitor native species like whio.

Flowering kiekie -a sign of improving biodiversity (credit: Shaun Baylis) and images above: Mereana Hanrahan with a legtrap and a satellite box on the Kaitake Ranges.

Visitors to Mount Taranaki are being urged to obey the rules and leave their family pets at home, after Department of Conservation (DoC) staff observed jacket-wearing domestic cats being taken into Egmont National Park.

DoC Senior Ranger Dave Rogers says one of DoC’s staff did a double-take when she encountered pet cats wearing jackets and being carried in backpacks by their human owners on Mount Taranaki.

Cats and all other domestic animals are not allowed in the National Park as they pose a threat to endangered birds such as kiwi and whio, and other native species including geckos and insects.

The cats were in the carpark at North Egmont and were being put into the backpacks by their owners when approached by the ranger. The owners, visitors from Auckland, said they weren’t aware of the rules. The cat owners potentially face an infringement fine.

Read the full Stratford Press article here

A unique tourist venture has joined forces with a Taranaki-based environment group to tackle pest control in one of the region’s more isolated spots.

Forgotten World Adventures, which runs converted golf carts along the former Stratford-Okahukura line, has collaborated with the East Taranaki Environment Collective (ETEC) to set up 69 pest animal traps along a 10km stretch of rail snaking through rugged hill country at Te Wera, which is 35 km east of Stratford.

Recently, representatives of ETEC, Forgotten World Adventures, Taranaki Kiwi Trust and Taranaki Mounga project placed traps alongside the rail line, at 150m intervals, from Mohakau Rd to the mouth of the tunnel under Pohokura Saddle.

The rail line runs along the southern boundary of pest management area ETEC operates within, which now covers more than 18,000 hectares from Okoki to Te Wera.

Read the full Taranaki Daily News article here.

Since 2014 Taranaki Mounga Project Director Jan Hania (pictured) has been instrumental in developing and implementing our transformational 34,000-hectare landscape-scale project.  

This week Jan moves from his role as Project Director to an Independent Director on our Taranaki Mounga Board.  

Our team and board are delighted to continue to have his expertise and knowledge at this governance level.  

“Jan through his role as the NEXT Foundation Environmental Director was a key driver in bringing together successful partnerships and an innovative model which has seen the revitalisation of our tupuna mounga,” says Taranaki Mounga Chair Jamie Tuuta.  

“We are fortunate to have Jan join us on the Board as our project evolves and grows. He brings a wealth of skills, strong governance experience and provides continuity which is also vitally important.”  

Taranaki Mounga continues to strive and align with the Government’s vision for a predator free New Zealand by 2050. 

Our Co-Project Manager Sean Zieltjes will be Pouārahi Tupua / Acting Project Director and Sera Gibson will be in the sole acting role as Pou Whakahaere / Project Manager.  

The Taranaki Mounga Board will confirm its new structure over the coming months and will advertise accordingly.  

Two kiwi named Awhina and Craig were released at Pukeiti in the Kaitake Range last week. Photo – Andy Jackson

Eight kiwi have been set free into bush in the Kaitake Range in Taranaki, joining 10 released for the first time last year and which are now thriving and breeding.

The new arrivals, released on Thursday, will provide more genetic diversity for a new colony that is developing, Kaitake Ranges Conservation Trust chair Peter Morgan said.

Two more kiwi will join them this season, an exciting development for an area where no evidence of wild kiwi living had been found “for a very long time”, he said.

Intensive predator control by the trust has made it possible for the birds to be reintroduced, and more kiwi will be progressively released over the next few years.

Read the full Taranaki Daily News article here.

Sam Hopkirk, from Taranaki Kiwi Trust, and students Stevie-Lee Pauga 10, Naveah Makatea Cooper 10, and Turi Broughton-Rewiti 9, meet one of the birds released on Tuesday. Phoo- Vanessa Laurie

Kiwi release ‘season’ got under way with the release of five birds on Taranaki Maunga on Tuesday.

They were the first of 34 that will be moved out of the region’s kiwi nursery during April.

This is the third year that birds bred in the Taranaki Kohanga Kiwi At Rotokare, a partnership between the Taranaki Kiwi Trust and the Rotokare Reserve Trust, near Eltham, have been released.

The translocations are made possible by hundreds of volunteers working alongside staff from the two trusts and the Taranaki Mounga Project, Department of Conservation and the Kaitake Ranges Conservation Trust.

Read the full Taranaki Daily News article here.

Taranaki Mounga board member Hemi Sundgren, NEXT Foundation chair and chief executive Bill Kermode, and DOC partnerships director Martin Rodd at the signing of the Tomorrow Accord on Friday.

After almost a century, goats are gone from Taranaki Maunga​ and the world’s longest-running goat eradication programme has come to an end.

Their absence is already being seen in an abundance of plants previously gobbled up by the goats.

This achievement was marked on Friday with a signing of the Tomorrow Accord milestone by representatives from the Taranaki Mounga​ Project (TMP) and Department of Conservation (DOC).

Established in 2014 between the Crown and Taranaki Mounga founding partner, the NEXT Foundation, the Tomorrow Accord ensures ecological transformations are protected for future generations.

Read the full Taranaki Daily News article here.