01 September 2008

Conservation Volunteer Experience during Term Break

By Emu Izaki and Shirley Ghozalli. Edited by Moira Blake

The group of students who volunteered

It began with an invitation to do volunteer nature conservation work during break time. The invitation came from an IPC graduate, who is working at the Department of Conservation, Kahori Nakagawa. When she issued the invitation during a presentation here at IPC about her work, 10 students eagerly raised their hands. So on 11th of August, those 10 students, some of them from Mr Steve Pilkington's Environment class went from Palmerston North to a "Mainland Island" which is located on the outskirts of Napier.

This Mainland Island is a paradise for Kokako and Kiwi birds. In order to protect these endangered birds from harmful animals, the Department of Conservation staff have laid traps around the birds' habitat. Harmful animals such as stoats can eat Kiwi eggs or attack chicks and can cause a significant drop in the Kiwi population. (95% of kiwi chicks do not reach their first birthday because of stoat predation). In order to do their part in saving the Kiwi birds, the students were given the task of replacing the old traps with new ones every 100 m along a mountain track. The students worked in groups, carrying the new traps - wooden boxes - along the track and returning for the next new trap as each one was laid. Some groups actually walked over 5.2 km there and back along the track each time they set a new trap. They used transceivers to stay in contact with one another, as they walked.

The students managed to set 28 trap units on the first day and the almost same number the next day. Although the wooden boxes themselves were not heavy, carrying them while walking was tough work for the students' hands and backs. On the second day, it started to rain when they were doing their task. This meant that they had to be more careful as the steep slope they were walking on became slippery. Nevertheless, they persevered with their task. Steve Pilkington said, "It was quite arduous for them, but they ALL did VERY well - and I was proud of their achievements. We even got a letter of thanks from DoC !!!!!"

"We could hear the birds singing in the trees, see some birds that approached us, and discover many types of plants. In the middle of our journey, we drank the water from a river and it was so refreshing that everyone shouted 'I'm alive!'" said one of the participants, Sayaka Odo (a 2007 student).

Fumie Kawata (a 2006 student) expressed her feelings about the experience this way: "Though the task needed perseverance and physical strength, we encouraged each other, persisted and did it to the best of our ability. 'Do you know that this task usually takes about 2-3 weeks when done by the Department of Conservation staff?' said our lecturer, Steve. His words moved us deeply. In these 2 days, we proved that the more people work together, the more things get done. Although we didn't catch sight of any Kiwi bird, we feel that we have achieved something. All of my muscles are sore but if there's another trip like this, I won't hesitate to go."

Filling up at the lodging place before starting work

Carrying the wooden traps while walking

The students are still working even though it's raining

<Back  |  ^Top