Haumanu Tū Ora

🪤🌿 Urban Trapping in Elgin – Kaitiakitanga in Action! 🌿🪤

Students from Te Kura Kaupapa Māori o Horouta Wānanga have been out along Reynolds Drain in Elgin, setting traps and checking monitoring tunnels as part of an urban pest control kaupapa.

With every footprint tracked and every trap set, they’re helping protect the native manu that call this area home – including the riroriro, pīwakawaka and kererū.

This mahi is part of growing the next generation of kaitiaki, restoring balance to our urban environments, and ensuring our taiao thrives for generations to come.

Ngā mihi nui ki ngā ākonga me ngā kaiako mō tō koutou kaha ki te tiaki i tō koutou ake taiao!

🌿✨ He rā whakahirahira mō te taiao me te rangatahi!

This week we joined the awesome ākonga and kaiako of Te Kura Kaupapa Māori o Ngā Uri a Māui for a special planting day along the awa o Matokitoki, which flows right through their kura.

With gumboots on and kō in hand, these young kaitiaki helped plant a variety of native species to restore and protect the stream that connects directly to their learning environment. 🌱💧

Their mahi is part of a bigger kaupapa to improve the health of our freshwater and support biodiversity—right from the kura gate to the awa.

Ngā mihi maioha to the kura whānau for leading by example and showing that when we care for the taiao, the taiao cares for us.

Ko te wai, ko te whenua, ko tātou – he hononga pūmau. 💚

🍃❄️ Winter has arrived! – and we’re back into planting season! 🌱🌧️

As the winter season settles in, our Haumanu Tū Ora team is back out on the whenua, planting native species to help restore the health and mauri of our urban waterways.

Hōtoke, winter, is the perfect time to plant. The rains help new roots take hold, giving our seedlings the best chance to thrive—and every plant supports the journey to cleaner water, stronger ecosystems, and a healthier taiao. 💧🌿

Ngā mihi nui to our kaimahi, contractors and community partners who are braving the cold to do the mahi. Together, we’re growing a better future—mo te wai, mō tātou katoa. 💚

Kia ora Tūranganui a Kiwa! As the days lengthen and temperatures rise, so does the activity of one of our most persistent pests: rats. Now is the time to ramp up our predator control efforts, and we're inviting you to join the Tu Taiao Tairāwhiti movement and use TrapNZ to track your trapping success – with the chance to win fantastic spot prizes along the way!

Why TrapNZ?

TrapNZ is a powerful online platform that allows you to record and monitor your trapping efforts. It's an invaluable tool for any backyard trapper, community group, or school participating in predator control. By using TrapNZ, you can:

🟢 Map your traps: Easily pinpoint the location of your traps on an interactive map.

🟢 Record catches: Log your catches, including the type of pest, date, and time.

🟢 Track your progress: Monitor your trapping success over time and identify hotspots.

🟢 Share your data: Contribute to the wider predator control effort in Tūranganui a Kiwa.

🟢 Join the Tu Taiao Tairāwhiti community: see what others are catching.



Contact us: [email protected],nz

Tīhei Taiao 🍃

Tu Taiao: Kura Backyard Trapping Competition

Kia ora Tūranganui a Kiwa!

We're excited to announce the Tu Taiao Kura Backyard Trapping Competition, a fun and engaging way for schools within Tūranganui a Kiwa to learn about predator control and contribute to the health of our native ecosystems.

What is the Tu Taiao Kura Backyard Trapping Competition?

This exciting competition challenges students within participating schools to become backyard trapping champions! Students will compete against each other by setting and monitoring traps in their own backyards. It's a fantastic way to encourage and educate whānau around Tūranganui a Kiwa about predator control and the role they can play in helping our native species to thrive.

Why is this important?

Predators like rats, possums, and stoats pose a significant threat to our native birds, reptiles, and insects. By participating in this competition, students can play a vital role in protecting our taonga (treasures), right from their own backyards.

How can your school participate?

1) Register your school by contacting Haumanu Tū Ora
2) Students will receive traps and instructions to set up in their own backyard traps.
3) Monitor traps regularly and record your findings with TrapNZ.
4) A lead teacher will be required to receive all results with the support of Haumanu Tū Ora

Prizes:
Participating schools will receive educational resources, trapping equipment, and the opportunity for the top student trappers to win exciting prizes.

Let's work together to create a predator-free future for Tūranganui a Kiwa!

Contact us: [email protected],nz

Start backyard trapping Once you know which predators you’re dealing with, it’s time to select your backyard trap and start trapping. All the traps we recommend are humane.

Kia ora rā Tūranganui a Kiwa!

We are thrilled to introduce Tu Taiao Tairāwhiti, a new project dedicated to supporting residents and communities of Tūranganui a Kiwa on their pest control journey. We want to get rid of pesky animals like stoats, rats, and possums that are hurting our birds. By doing this, we can help our manu / birds thrive and make our environment healthier for everyone to enjoy.

We believe that a predator-free Tairāwhiti is possible, and we are committed to working alongside you to make it a reality.

Ready to jump in? Here's how you can join the movement:

Become a Trapping Hero! Education is key and we have info packs available. We'll connect you!

Transform Your Backyard! Grab some traps and start protecting your own patch. Reach out to us and we can help you get set up.

Be a Pest Detective! Spot a pest? Report it! Every sighting helps us track and target.

Spread the Word! Share the importance of predator control with your friends and whānau.

Together, we can make Tairāwhiti a predator-free paradise.

He waka eke noa! Join the movement today! Contact us: [email protected],nz

A History of Spartina in the Taruheru: From Beautification to Restoration 🌿

Many in our community might not know that spartina, now a target of removal efforts, was originally introduced to the Taruheru River with good intentions. The idea was to "beautify" the mudflats and perhaps even help with erosion control. Unfortunately, as is often the case with introduced species, spartina's aggressive growth quickly became a problem. It created dense, impenetrable stands, displacing native plants and birds impacting the natural ecosystem of the river.

Now, we understand the importance of restoring the Taruheru to its natural state. Removing the spartina grass will allow native plants to thrive, improve water quality, and provide habitat for native wildlife. It's a big, difficult job, but it's really important for keeping our river healthy in the future.

The Taruheru River Story Tairāwhiti Museum is located beside the Taruheru River. This river is one of the three main rivers of Tūranga / Gisborne and is thought to be named after the...

Spartina Trial Update:

Enhancing bird diversity and expanding feeding grounds.

Spartina, known for its aggressive spread, chokes out native mudflat habitats that are essential for local and migratory manu that visit our Tūranganui Estuary.

The estuary's natural mudflats and salt marshes provide rich feeding grounds teeming with invertebrates and small fish. This was shown 3 months after our pilot program as native Wiwi grass began to overtake areas where the spartina once thrived.

This mahi supports a diverse range of bird species who rely on these estuary habitats for food and resting spots. Efforts to remove Spartina have shown an uptick in bird numbers feeding on the flats including;

✅ Torea - oystercatchers,
✅ Matuku Moana - herons,
✅ Kotuku Ngutupapa - Royal spoonbills



📸 Photo Credit: ://inaturalist.nz/observations/228945120
📍Taruheru Awa

Kōtuku Ngutupapa (Royal Spoonbill) (Platalea regia) Royal Spoonbill from Marina Park, Gisborne, Gisborne, NZ on July 13, 2024 at 08:14 AM by arinana

UPDATE - POSTPONED TO A LATER DATE

Haumanu Tū Ora spartina removal 2025 - Taruheru Awa

Due to the weather forecast of high winds and unsuitable weather conditions for spraying we have decided to postpone the operation this weekend to a date further into the summer.

STAY TUNED FOR UPDATES GOING FORWARD!

Kia ora Tūranganui a Kiwa! We're pleased to announce the rescheduled dates for the important work to remove spartina from our Taruheru Awa and Tūranganui Estuary.

The project will now take place from 7-9 March 2025.

This ongoing effort is crucial for protecting our local environment, our Taiao, ensuring the health of our waterways. We appreciate the community's understanding regarding the postponement and look forward to continuing this vital work.

Further updates about the project will be shared as they become available.

Tihei Taiao 🌱

As the invasive w**d fades away, our mudflats are coming back to life! The more we see crabs and snails is a clear tohu / sign of a healthier ecosystem for our Taruheru awa mudflats.

Our Taiao and nature has its own way of bouncing back! We aim to continue monitoring the impacts of the absence of spartina to the river ecology.

Watch this space!