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Key Facts about the
Windy Hill Rosalie Bay Catchment Trust
Great Barrier Island

The Windy Hill Rosalie Bay Catchment Trust was formed in 2001 and is a registered Charitable Trust. The Trustees are : Judy Gilbert—Founder, Voluntary Trust Manager, landowner Little Windy Hill;  Peter Speck – biodynamic farmer, landowner Rosalie Bay; John Ogden—Professor of Ecology, landowner Awana; and  Mike Lee— Chair, Auckland Regional Council. The Trust was created to formalise the management of ecological restoration and to expand existing pest management projects initiated in 1999 by south-eastern Great Barrier Island landowners.  

The Trust’s overall objective is to sustain and enhance the biodiversity of the area by removing invasive plants and animals creating a Sanctuary within which  native species can flourish, threatened species can be protected, and species  that have been lost to the island reintroduced.  The Trust engages the community in the benefits of conservation and is committed to assisting the fragile economy of the island by creating conservation based employment.

For the past 8 years the Trust has been raising funds and employing field workers to systematically remove invasive plants and animals. The area currently under intensive management for rats, pigs, and feral cats totals 700 hectares. The Trust currently has four full time field workers and a part time contractor all of whom have come from the pool of un-employed on island.   The first translocation of North Island Robins - a regionally extinct species - was carried out in 2004 with a booster translocation of 25 robins in March 2009.  Eighty young have fledged since 2004.  Two rare chevron skinks have been released at Windy Hill by DoC.

This area of the island has long been considered ecologically significant. It is remote, has very little development, and has large areas of undisturbed coastal-broadleaf- podocarp mature forest. The sanctuary is home to pateke duck, black petrels, chevron skink, kaka, and kereru. The Category C rare plant pimelea tomentosa is found on the coast and a rare Green mistletoe is also present. The area is recognised under Category 4 of the National Priorities for Biodiversity on Private land. Two areas totalling 130 hectares are covenanted with QE11 National Trust. The landowners have responded to the call for all NZrs to halt the waning of the country’s biodiversity.

Eighty km of tracks with 5000 bait stations and 70 cat traps have been established in 4 pest project areas to remove rats, mice, and feral cats. From 1999 trapping was the sole method used to reduce pest densities, however, monitoring indicated this was not sufficient and a twice yearly pulse of toxin was introduced from August 2005. Over this time 30,000 rats, 200 cats, 300 goats, and 35 pigs were removed. To improve cost effectiveness and efficacy further the programme became toxin based in late 2008. Field workers keep a detailed record of all catches and bait take.

The private landowners involved make an annual donation to the project costs and the Trust Manager is voluntary – a minimum of 20 hours per week. Funds have been raised from the Auckland Regional Council Environmental Initiatives Fund, World Wild Life Habitat Protection Fund, Pacific Conservation and Development Fund, QEII National Trust, Auckland City, Heritage Fund, Scottwood Group, Lotteries Environment, Transpower Landcare, and the Biodiversity Condition Fund.

A monitoring programme has been in operation since 2000. Bird Monitoring is undertaken twice yearly and supervised by ecologist John Ogden. Monitoring is undertaken for weta, lizards, and seedlings every six months.  Freshwater stream monitoring was introduced in 2004. Monitoring tunnels are set for rats five times a year. The current average is a creditable 6%. A Control project established on an unmanaged site in 2006 has an average of 85%.  Regular reports are published of monitoring results which show clear conservation gains in species presence and abundance

Open Days on the project sites were held in 2000, 2001, 2003 and three ‘Rat Attack’ community workshops held in 2007 and 2008. Articles about our activities are published in the GBI Trust Enviro News which goes to 1200 residents and ratepayers. A twice yearly newsletter is sent to around 150 organisations and individuals. A telephone survey was conducted in 2002 to gauge the community’s response to the idea of a feral cat and rat eradication for the entire island. 85% of respondents acknowledged there would be benefits. The Trust has a regular field volunteer and provides for Community Service to be carried out in the field. The Trustees and Field Workers are a resource for information and equipment on request. The local school visits twice a year and other visitors on request.

The benefits to the biodiversity of the area are apparent. Birds numbers per hectare have doubled, lizard sightings are now common, and weta are abundant. The sanctuary area is used to rehabilitate captured native species and for research trials the results of which are of international significance.  The community benefits economically and socially through the provision of employment opportunities—fourteen to date. These jobs assist with reducing the number of unemployed on island and up-skill workers to conservation professionals. The project is a working role model of ecological restoration for DoC, other private landowners and organisations. The Trust is a member of the Sanctuaries of NZ group and shares widely the knowledge gained here.

In 2004 the Department of Conservation awarded the Trust the Stella Francis Award for Conservation Excellence.

More Information about Windy Hill/Rosalie Bay Catchment Trust