Storms, storms, storms!

May brought with it some severe weather and had quite the impact on our lovely forest, fence, and tracks.
 

On the fence

As soon as it was safe, the team was out checking our fence to see if there were treefalls, and as expected, there were a few across the fence which needed to be dealt with urgently. The team did a fantastic job of removing the smaller trees, but one big treefall required specialist removal. Specialist arborists Arb Innovation were awesome. Despite being at work in Wellington from 4am, a team arrived on-site immediately and spent the rest of the day clearing a huge pine delicately balanced on a fence post. Once cleared (with the help of a Hiab lift), our very own Infrastructure Ranger, Gary, fixed the fence quick smart.

Out on the tracks 

A huge effort by the weekend rangers and our ranger assistants saw 32 km of tracks checked and most treefalls removed. Yes, that’s right. 32km of tracks checked and cleared in a day!

Incursion response

After treefalls across the fence, it’s vital to check that no introduced mammals have used the treefalls as a bridge to enter Zealandia. The team has worked hard to put traps, cameras and even a thermal camera in place near the treefall areas and are now checking the information regularly.  

Predator Free Wellington dog handler, Sally Bain and her ‘super sniffer’ rat detection dog Rapu completed a survey of the valley, and found evidence that a rat may have got in. In quick response, the team has been adding in more traps and detection tools and will continue to manage the response. So far, we haven’t spotted anything on the cameras or in the traps, and there haven’t been any signs of any further incursions.

A huge team effort 

It takes a team effort to make sure this special place is well cared for after one of these events, and it has all gone smoothly.  

If you can, donating to our fence campaign is the best way to support this vital work.