references
K E A C O N S E R VAT I O N T R U S T: PROJECTS 2013/2014
Over the past year, the KCT has driven a number of field and advocacy projects aimed at increasing understanding of kea status and threats. This last year we completed a 6th nest monitoring stint in Nelson Lakes and added a 5th monitoring site at Otira. We extended our predator control at Nelson Lakes to protect a record number of adult females in the area and, as a possible reflection of these efforts, saw a record number of chicks fledge. We extended our summer survey census work into the Kaikoura Mountains, the most eastern bastion of kea, and we developed two interpretation panels for the Arthur’s Pass area to alert the public to high risk situations. This year we saw even more people engage with us through our new website and we doubled the number of likes on our Facebook page. None of this of course could have been possible without the support of our sponsors, supporters and volunteers – we hope you will all join us for another productive year of kea conservation in 2014/2015.
Winter Advocacy Tour
Tamsin Orr-Walker Funded by The Lion Foundation and Unitec Institute of Technology
Our 6th South Island Winter Advocacy Tour ran from 15–23 July 2013. During that time Dr Lorne Roberts (Unitec and KCT Science Advisor) and Tamsin Orr-Walker (KCT Chair) visited 8 locations across the South Island and spoke to over 250 people. The aim of the tour was to actively engage with local media, target and engage with stakeholders in key areas, facilitate and follow up on existing relationships and projects, and to promote our new Kids for Kea Conservation
education DVD (funded by the Lion Foundation). Each of the eight community talk locations were chosen on the basis of 3 criteria – identified as containing key populations of kea, were high risk areas for kea (ie. areas with high human activity within kea habitat such as alpine villages, ski fields and National Parks), or were gateway towns/cities to any of these locations. During the talks our new DVD (starring pupils from Mt Cook school), was also promoted and given out free to educators and our hosts (a small koha to cover production costs of the DVDs was asked of individuals). A further six stakeholder meetings were run during the day. Since KCT’s formation in 2006, a number of projects
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have been developed across the South Island. Many of these are ongoing and require a certain level of community or conservation group engagement and collaboration. The stakeholder meetings focused discussion on pest control efforts during the breeding season, ongoing research work (nest monitoring, population surveys and surface repellents), development of interpretation and education material for high risk sites and development of the strategic plan for kea conservation. Although relatively expensive and time consuming to run, the Winter Advocacy Tour continues to provide us with an invaluable opportunity to connect directly with communities. This year we
Photo: Mat Goodman