Otanewainuku Kiwi Trust is celebrating its annual meeting next Wednesday night with a special guest speaker, predator control expert Professor Carolyn King.
Professor King, from the University of Waikato, has studied introduced predators and their management and has written several books including The Drama of Conservation - a history of Pureora Forest.
She researches the ecology of small rodents and mustelids, especially stoats and weasels, philosophy and management of national parks, and traditional and contemporary relationships between science and theology.
She is the senior editor of the New Zealand Journal of Zoology.
The talk will be held in H110 (next to the Atrium) at Toi Ohomai Institute of Technology's Windermere Campus at 70 Windermere Drive, Tauranga. Start time is 6.30pm and supper will be served after the presentation.
Otanewainuku Kiwi Trust is celebrating 15 years of successful predator control and forest restoration in the Bay of Plenty with the 1200ha Otanewainuku forest now hosting a breeding population of North Island brown kiwi and kokako.
A strong team of volunteers has been the backbone of the trust with pest control, kiwi and kokako monitoring, education and advocacy to restore birdlife and native vegetation.
Visitors to the forest are treated to close encounters with North Island bush robins, the song of the grey warbler and tui, and frequent sightings of kereru.
Tracks are often covered with fallen seeds, a sign that the rat numbers are being kept at a low level.
Rata and kohekohe flowers are evident in spring, no longer eaten by possums, and a good population of whiteheads.
There is a strong level of interest in the work of the trust and the education and advocacy team is in high demand. School groups, service clubs and students from tertiary institutions are keen to have guided field trips or talks at meetings.
A recent field trip from Bayswater retirement village included two women aged 92, who strolled along the rimu track and enjoyed the bush robins.
This month, four volunteers guided two groups totalling about 100 six year olds from Omanu School on the rimu track. They were supported by parents and on a mild sunny day the forest was looking at its best.
The giant ancient rimu trees were very impressive for the students and everyone had a close encounter with bush robins, tui and bellbirds.
Overseas students have also enjoyed guided walks at Otanewainuku, expressing their appreciation of the richness and variety of the tree and fern species and the fact that it is so safe to walk in the forests.
OTANEWAINUKU KIWI TRUST AGM
When: June 28, 6.30pm
Where:Toi Ohomai Institute of Technology's Windermere Campus, 70 Windermere Drive, Tauranga
Who: Professor Carolyn King, predator control expert.