The transformational commitment of Thames Coast Kiwi Care
The work of the Thames Coast Kiwi Care (TCKC) group has been truly transformational to the area they operate in. Due to the work of its volunteers trapping mustelids (stoats, weasels, ferrets) along the Thames Coast, the kiwi population was saved from the brink of collapse. When the problem of dwindling kiwi numbers was identified in 2006 there were an estimated 28 remaining kiwi in the area. This number has now grown to an estimated 250 – a 15% average annual increase – thanks to the dedication of TCKC’s volunteers.
The long-term commitment of the group’s volunteers – some who have been clearing traps for 16 years – has seen more kiwi thriving across a wider area. It is an incredible achievement from a group that itself also continues to thrive. According to the group’s chair, Moira Coatsworth, “we have achieved extraordinary results because of the extraordinary commitment of our volunteers”. Some trappers have been with the group from the start and their dedication to the cause shows no signs of wavering, even 16 years down the track.
Part of the secret to the group’s ongoing success is diversity. TCKC have a good mix of ages in the group, with the youngest two members being 19 and 21. These two young trappers, Tiana Smallfield and Collette Wise, were told about the group by a co- worker of Tiana’s who was planning to join. When the co-worker pulled out, Tiana pulled in her mate Colette, knowing that their shared love of the outdoors would make them a good team.
Tiana says that their involvement is as simple as them hearing about what the group did, and wanting to help. Both love being in the bush but hadn’t been sure who to approach about involvement in conservation. Colette and Tiana have now been with the group for about 18 months and already talk like grizzled trappers as Colette explains that nothing smells as bad as rotten hedgehog left in a sunny trap for a week in summer!
On top of time in the bush, Tiana and Colette love the chance to give back to the community. They also have a personal goal – both would love to one day be able to hear kiwi from their own backyards along the coast.
Fin Buchanan, a self-described ‘DOC lifer’, founded TCKC in 2006 with his wife Carol. Due to his involvement with the Moehau Kiwi Sanctuary and DOC, Fin was aware both that there were kiwi living along the Thames Coast and that their numbers throughout the Coromandel and the rest of the country were perilously low. The Thames Coast Protection Society, originally formed to protect the area from mining, also took an interest in the problem, and helped to sow the idea of a group forming to save the national icon from the edge of extinction.
According to Fin, the first step was to call a public meeting to gauge interest from the community. When 60 people showed up to that meeting at the Tapu Hall, the next step was to form a steering committee and from there, says Fin, “the rest is history”.
Fin credits the longevity of the group and its members to those coordinating the team. The first coordinator was his wife Carol, and Sheena Beaton now performs this crucial job. As Fin says, “you’re not paying these volunteers, so you need to have someone who is really good with people looking after them.” Having someone approachable, knowledgeable and organised who is at the centre of things gives the group someone to rotate around, and means the volunteers always feel up with the play and looked after.
Bob Carr has also been trapping since that meeting in 2006. Bob recalls the start of the group and how he wondered, will this make a difference? Sixteen years later, the signs of the change the group has wrought are all around him. Bob has heard kiwi calling closer and closer to his house, and last summer he even found physical evidence of the birds. After snapping some shots of the probe holes he found, Sheena confirmed that yes, kiwi were now poking around right outside Bob’s place!
Being involved for such a long time has given Bob a unique perspective on the success of the group. As well as the huge increase in native birdlife he has seen over this time, there have also been literal signposts along the way by which progress can be tracked. The new road signs warning drivers to look out for kiwi at night may seem like just another sign to most driving the Thames Coast, but these signs going up was like a public announcement of success: the group’s trapping programme had worked so well that kiwi were now abundant enough to warrant a sign announcing their presence!
Of course, the mahi didn’t end when the road signs were erected. Bob knows just how pernicious and persistent pests can be. During the first lockdown, Bob spotted a stoat slipping through the rocks at a beach where Little Blue Penguins once nested, and once while floundering at night, he was surprised to see by the light of his head torch a colony of rabbits munching on the seaweed exposed by low tide!
This awareness that there are still pests and predators out there has led to the group expanding its approach. Thanks to Natural Heritage funding from the Waikato Regional Council the group will soon double its impact. The funding, which amounts to $270k over four years, will mean that the group can now also trap for rats and possums in their rohe which will improve conditions for all native flora and fauna in the area. Things will not only get even better for kiwi, but all other endemic birds and bush will also greatly benefit from this expanded trapping. You can expect to see many more signs, both literal and figurative, of the bird population growing in the area thanks to the indefatigable efforts of these extraordinary volunteers.
Article by: Carolyn Wadey-Barron
Photography by: Rachel Holmes Photography
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