It’s a bad place to be a pest with this group of people who loathe them, but love their environment.
Eight properties in the Aniseed Valley have been besieged by the Roding River Catchment Group, awaiting unwanted visitors, after recently snaring 30 free traps from Menzshed Waimea following a Worldwide Fund for Nature grant.
The group, which was established in November 2023, has also launched a Trap.NZ page to keep track of its caught pest varieties and build a clearer picture of pest pressure across the catchment.
Manager Rosalie Bennett says the group’s trapping programme, on top of monthly water quality monitoring, and last winter’s planting of 6700 native trees, “strengthens community connections and creates a shared sense of guardianship for the environment”.
“Community groups doing this kind of work is really helpful and necessary, because there's no funding for it otherwise, so passionate locals doing it for their own environment is really important,” she says.
“We've got a big problem with weed infestation and pests of all kinds, from rats right up to wild pigs and goats.
“It was amazing that we got free traps from [Menzshed Waimea]… and we're hoping to increase those trap lines considerably next year, but starting off small, so that we get it right and understand the best baits to use.”
Rosalie says restoring the Roding River’s riparian margins and tributaries running through private properties remains the group’s first line of defence, alongside plans to expand trap lines as future donations allow.
