I wanted to write an article to encourage people to put effort into conservation related activities,

so here is my attempt. I am a Biodiversity Ranger with the Department of Conservation, currently based in the Hawke’s Bay area and here is the description of what I do on a regular basis. I work at Boundary Stream Mainland Island (BSMI) which is 65km northwest of Napier. It is an 800 hectare area of bush that is intensively managed with a combination of rodent and mustelid control. This is to try and simulate an island situation here on the mainland, by providing native species a safe place, free of predators, to live, reproduce and thrive. I am involved in many different aspects of the work related to conservation including pest control, species monitoring, and track maintenance. It is magnificent place to work and makes going to work each day enjoyable and exciting.

Mainland islands were set up around the country about 16 years ago, with the plan to provide a place to learn about how certain techniques can benefit native species.

A lot of focus of BSMI is aimed at the North Island Brown Kiwi. Currently there are 8 breeding pairs within the reserves boundary and we monitor their behaviour intensively. A tool that has helps us do this is the chick timer transmitter developed by Sirtrack. At a distance and through radio waves, these transmitters can tell us all aspects of a male kiwi’s behaviour. From whether it is nesting or not, alive or dead, even how long it has been sitting on an egg for, what time he left his nest burrow the night before and eventually these transmitters can tell us when his eggs have hatched. It does this by giving numbered outputs that are related to each aspect of his behaviour. Transmitters are placed on the males because they alone incubate the eggs and we can therefore find the nests at the crucial time after the chicks have hatched. Transmitters are put on the chicks so we can monitor subsequent generations and this also helps to determine whether the predator control programs are working. Finding all nests and all newly hatched chicks is not always possible and each year kiwi call counts are coducted to give an idea of what the kiwi population is doing overall. Kiwi related skills that I have learnt at BSMI have enabled me to help on another great project that has recently been successful, the translocation of kiwi form Little Barrier Island to Pukaha, Mt Bruce. I was invited to put my kiwi tracking skills to the test and locate kiwi on the island, capture them and box them up ready from transportation. It is a beautiful place and I was privileged to be invited there.

Kokako territories are also monitored at BSMI, this involves walking the entire reserve along transect lines using recorded calls to get responses from the birds. From this it can determine how the once translocated populations are doing in this area. Lizard monitoring is also a major responsibility of my job description and this is done with a few different techniques: iron covers for skinks, foam cell covers and lizard houses for geckos. They all aim to show either presence or absence of lizards in the selected areas. These are monitored in warms months when lizards are active, to increase the chance that something will be there. Lizard species that are currently present at BSMI include: Wellington Green Gecko (), Common Gecko (), Forest Gecko () and Common Skink (). Since working here I have fallen in love with reptiles and pursued a permit so I could house my own captive population at home. These are sometimes used as educational tools to show people just what is hidden out there in the forests of New Zealand. Invertebrate pitfall trapping is also conducted once a year and is used to show changes in insect diversity and abundance throughout the history of our mainland island project.

Predator control is what occupies most of my time at work. Rodents are controlled using poison in Philproof bait stations. Currently RatAbate is being used, which is peanut butter based and proves to be quite appetising to rats. Every two months 300g of poison is put out in the 943 bait stations that are spaced 150m x 75m throughout the entire reserve. What doesn’t get eaten in those two months gets taken out and brought back to be disposed of. Mustelids: Stoats, Ferrets and Weasels are controlled with the 650 traps that are installed throughout and around the reserve. DoC 250’s designed for ferrets and DoC 200’s for smaller two species, consist of a spring loaded trap that dispatches the animal caught in it humanly. Traps do catch other animals also, hedgehogs, rabbits, and rats all of which are considered pests so beneficial by-catch. To monitor rodent and mustelids numbers within the reserve tracking tunnels are used, animal footprints are recorded using ink and paper in a tunnel and then animal numbers are compared with non-treatment areas surrounding the reserve. This shows whether the pest control does have an effect on pest populations and therefore determines whether it is beneficial to our native species. Cats are also a major predator that has to be contended with and these are dealt to with the use of 60 chimney box traps with rabbit meat as a lure. These traps are effective and it is surprising how many feral cats there are living in and around BSMI.

Boundary Stream has brilliant public walking tracks with unique natural attractions including: Hawke’s Bay’s largest waterfall, Shines falls, with a drop of 58m this is an impressive sight to see from below and even more spectacular looking from the top down, it is also a brilliant swimming hole after a hard days work; Superb limestone formations scatter the countryside as well as picturesque views of the surrounding mountain ranges and on a good day the entire semi circle of the Hawke’s Bay from Portland island to Cape Kidnappers can be seen. Tracks to these sites as well as all the trap and bait station lines total to 75km all up and need to be maintained. Many hours of work time is focused on scrub cutting and clearing windfalls so that work can run smooth operations around the reserve.

Hazards in my line of work are numerous and some that relate specifically to Boundary Stream include: Onga onga (), this plant is quite possibly the nastiest plant in existence. It is covered in hypodermic needles and if it has the chance will use these to inject you with a most irritating poison. It starts of hurting and then the affected site goes numb, just like pins and needles and then it welts up. This pins and needles feeling can last up to a week if the plants gets you good and when your stung skin gets wet the sensation gets worse. So showering can be an uncomfortable experience if you’ve had a big day fighting Onga onga. Onga onga tends to team up with Bush Lawyer () and they usually grow in close proximity. When trying to avoid one you usually get snagged by the other. Bush Lawyer is a vine plant that has sharp, tiny hooks along the stem of the vine which grab everything just like velco but more piercing. In my experience the top fold of your ears are susceptible to a Bush Lawyer hook. Sometimes holes appear as if from nowhere and if you are not paying attention while on work duties you’ll find yourself in one wondering how to get out. Snow also occurs in the heart of winter, but is more fun than a hazard. Being towed behind a quad motorbike on a snowboard isn’t as much fun as it should be. You just get a face full of muddy snow and the motorbike ends up getting stuck.

Working and living in such an area and having these reserves as my back yard has many advantages. Spare time is always occupied doing something fun. Photography is an ideal hobby to have with such dense populations of native birds and spectacular landscapes. The landscape being made up of limestone creates cave systems which riddle surrounding reserves and provide ample opportunities to explore and get lost in discoveries that seem to me, like humans haven’t set eyes on before.

Other work that I do for DOC away from the Mainland Island includes building bridges, taking photos for interpretation panels in the area, work in helicopters, fire fighting and compliance. Bird rescue is something that has evolved from my job and I have rescued a Kereru () and a Harrier () with intentions to do a lot more once I have built so adequate aviaries. Whale strandings are also attended by DOC rangers when they occur and so far I have attended one right next to the Port of Napier. Helping researchers is also an important part of my job, as well as coordinating volunteers. We get volunteers regularly, from all over the world, they get the opportunity to do everything that I do for my job and some have even implemented their own projects within our reserve. Translocations to other areas can be a measure of success and Riflemen () and Whiteheads () have been translocated from BSMI to other areas, showing the project to be very successful indeed. With continued effort BSMI can continue to be safe haven for native species, a source population for other translocations and other conservation efforts in the future.

Being a ranger involved with conservation in New Zealand is a privileged and a career path that I highly recommend. You get to work with species and experience places that most people only hear about. I enjoy it so much that I spend almost my entire allocation of annual leave helping out on other projects around the country, mainly with the Kea Conservation Trust (see my August 2009 F&B article). With the world heading in its current direction, conservation is more important than ever and to be involved gives a feeling that what you are doing matters. There are many different organisations focused towards the same goal and any one of them would be worth helping out, get out there and volunteer or take that same path as me and make a career out of it..