The call of the Great Spotted Kiwi, or roroa, was heard in Arthur's Pass long before 1864 when its namesake, Arthur Dudley Dobson, led the first party of Europeans through the alpine crossing, looking for a route to transport West Coast gold across the Southern Alps.

But if he pitched his canvas tent on the Pass today, Sir Arthur would hear far fewer calls from New Zealand’s largest kiwi.  In 2005, the number of birds in the area was estimated to be just 16.

But the tide is turning.  The tiny 40-strong community in Arthur’s Pass village, 737 metres above sea level and surrounded by the forest and mountains of Arthur’s Pass National Park, is making moves to protect the local roroa population.

A joint initiative between the Department of Conservation (DOC) and local residents is taking on stoats and possums, and monitoring the local roroa population.  DOC’s Field Centre Supervisor, Wayne Costello, says the project aims to make sure villagers and visitors can continue to lie in bed at night and hear kiwi calling.  “It’s the best form of co-habitation,” he says.  “We want to remove the kiwi’s predators so they can successfully breed, nest and recruit young roroa into the local population.  We want our children’s children to hear these birds call at night.”

The joint initiative is building on the work of volunteers who have trapped stoats around the village environs for some years.    And it melds nicely with other pest control in the area – the organisers of the annual Coast to Coast race fund stoat control along the Mingha and Deception rivers to protect blue duck; DOC’s Operation Ark programme controls predators in the nearby Hawdon and Poulter valleys to protect native species such as the orange-fronted parakeet; and DOC’s West Coast conservancy controls possums in the Otira and Deception valleys, ensuring the summer rata continue to colour the mountainsides red.  Not only that, the protection of Great Spotted Kiwi and the community’s efforts have been included as a policy directive in the draft Arthur’s Pass Management Plan.

“The combined efforts mean that when the roroa population around Arthur’s Pass grows and the birds need more room, they will have predator-free territory to move into in the neighbouring valleys,” Wayne says.

The Arthur’s Pass Community Roroa Protection Project’s efforts were boosted in 2005 with funding from Bank of New Zealand Save the Kiwi Trust.  A 13-kilometre line of traps now runs from the West Coast side of the pass, over its 921-metre top, through the village and southeast toward Klondyke Corner, en route to Christchurch. 

Success was immediate, Wayne says.  At first, high numbers of stoats were captured all along the trap line, but catches have dropped right off and most stoats are now caught on the eastern boundary of the trapped area, migrating west into kiwi territory. 

The next step is to begin to remove possums from the upper Bealey Valley, as this introduced pest also disturbs kiwi nests, either displacing birds from their breeding burrow, or fighting with the incubating male and causing eggs to break.

As well as trapping stoats and possums throughout the year, community volunteers also don thick woollens to sit out on cold winter nights listening for kiwi, part of the ongoing monitoring programme.

And they are firmly focused on raising people’s awareness about the plight of the Great Spotted Kiwi, also so known as the mountaineer of kiwi. “Arthur's Pass National Park, with the village as its focal point, has 540,000 people on its doorstep in Canterbury and the West Coast, not to mention the huge number of travellers drawn to the area’s mountainous beauty.  There is no other national park in the country that people can access so easily,” Wayne says, “and that makes it an ideal site to highlight and publicise our work and the work of Bank of New Save the Kiwi Trust.”

A new brochure and posters throughout the village let people know about the good work going on, and interpretation panels are planned.

Size of area under protection

The trap lines run from the Otira Valley car park in the west, to the Mingha Bluffs in the east, a total of 13-kilometres of trap lines. 

The Biggest Challenge

As with many community kiwi groups, keeping people motivated and enthused to manage the traps is a challenge, especially when they have been so successful that far fewer stoats are now being caught. “It’s a good sign of success, but traps that aren't catching anything aren't that exciting to check,” Wayne says. 

“Our biggest challenge now is to recruit enough enthusiastic volunteers to help with biannual monitoring of kiwi calls to determine whether we have any new kiwi in the area.  Longer term, we hope to become part of Bank of New Zealand Save the Kiwi’s Operation Nest Egg programme to help make sure roroa survive and expand their population.

Biggest Successes

Arthur's Pass residents and bach owners are extremely proud of the co-habiting kiwi and extremely supportive of the expanded initiative to trap possums as well as stoats.   Because the project relies on kiwi call monitoring to assess the number of birds, it is hard to measure just how much the roroa population is growing, but villagers have already noticed that the number of other birds around the village has exploded since trapping began.  Native bush robins now bounce around people doing their gardening, and bellbirds, tomtits, warblers and other small birds fill the air with their song.  Wayne says villagers credit the Bank of New Zealand Save the Kiwi Trust funded trapping project with the increased birdlife they enjoy.

Funding

A major supporter of the Arthur’s Pass Community Roroa Protection Project is Bank of New Zealand Save the Kiwi Trust.   Along with funding for traps, the Trust has paid for a professional trapper to show villagers how best to locate, maintain, bait and check traps to get effective results.  It has also funded publicity material highlighting the plight of the roroa and the community’s efforts. 

The project benefits from strong local support – in 2003, one resident bought and set up 30 traps in and around Arthur's Pass village.

And the project has also captured the imagination of visitors.  Of particular note, says, Wayne, are the pupils of Cashmere Primary School, in Christchurch, who were so taken with the project when their school stayed at the Arthur's Pass Outdoor Education Centre that they went home and fundraised $101 to go towards saving kiwi in Arthur's Pass.

Visitors also make donations at the Arthur's Pass Store.

The One Most Important Thing

As with any community project, the support and motivation of volunteers is extremely important for the ongoing success of the programme.  Wayne says it is vital to recognise people’s work and celebrate successes.

Contact Details

If you would like to support and/or volunteer to help this worthwhile project, please contact:

Wayne Costello, Field Centre Supervisor
Email: wcostello@doc.govt.nz
Postal Address: Department of Conservation, Arthur's Pass
Phone: 03 318 9082 or 021 1134 266
 
Gerald Bruce-Smith,  Arthur's Pass Community Roroa Protection Project Co-ordinator
Email: gbruce-smith@xtra.co.nz
Postal Address: P. O. Box 18, Arthur's Pass Village
Phone: 03 318 9078
 
Website links:
http://www.apinfo.co.nz/
http://www.doc.govt.nz/Explore/001~National-Parks/Arthurs-Pass-National-Park/index.asphttp://www.doc.govt.nz/Explore/001~National-Parks/Arthurs-Pass-National-Park/index.asp