{"id":2745,"date":"2012-11-06T11:16:00","date_gmt":"2012-11-05T22:16:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/saje.nz\/forest\/?p=2745"},"modified":"2025-08-13T11:17:56","modified_gmt":"2025-08-12T23:17:56","slug":"hunter-bags-an-egg","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/saje.nz\/forest\/hunter-bags-an-egg\/","title":{"rendered":"Hunter bags an egg"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Genesis investment to help cement \u201cencouraging\u201d local Blue Duck numbers<\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

A successful Hawke\u2019s Bay whio, or blue duck, conservation project has received a four-year, $107,500 cash injection from Whio Forever, a species recovery programme launched jointly by Genesis Energy and the Department of Conservation (DOC).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The grant will enable the Forest Lifeforce Restoration (FLR) Trust to expand the work it\u2019s doing on its property in the Maungataniwha Native Forest, a 6,120 hectare expanse of bush south of Te Urewera National Park in inland Hawke\u2019s Bay.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This includes establishing a secure breeding area for whio by exterminating predators and pests, conducting research into resident populations and monitoring breeding patterns.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Trust already operates 333 mustelid traps in the Maungataniwha Native Forest in partnership with Hawke\u2019s Bay Regional Council. It has also used its own money to establish a network of trapping tracks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis is not a captive breeding programme,\u201d said Pete Shaw, FLR trustee and forest manager. \u201cIt\u2019s about effective stewardship of the wild birds that are starting to call our properties home because they\u2019re safe places to live and breed.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Shaw announced earlier this year that the catchment areas of the Waiau and Te Hoe rivers bordering the Trust\u2019s Maungataniwha property had been classified a Blue Duck ‘Recovery Site’ by DOC’s Whio Recovery Group (WRG). This followed a census conducted by the agency, with input from the Trust and other interested parties, which revealed an \u201cimmensely encouraging\u201d whio population density.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Whio Forever aims to double the number of secure breeding sites for the threatened native duck over the next five years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe funding we\u2019re announcing today will help cement this area\u2019s potential as a recovery point for this embattled little duck, and will hopefully contribute to the long-term survival of what remains currently a highly endangered species,\u201d Shaw said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Classified as \u2018endangered\u2019 by the International Union of Conservation for Nature (IUCN) and as \u2018nationally vulnerable\u2019 by DOC, the whio \u2013 named for the high-pitched whistle made by the male – has been severely impacted by exotic predators such as stoats.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Once widespread throughout New Zealand\u2019s back-country rivers, the whio population is now severely fragmented and chick counts are falling. It\u2019s estimated that about 640 pairs live on the North Island, with less than 700 pairs on the South Island.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cConservation in New Zealand can no longer be purely the preserve of government agencies,\u201d said Trust Chairman Simon Hall. \u201cThe job\u2019s too big, the battle\u2019s too fierce. Landowners and the private sector all have a role to play.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe\u2019re delighted with this grant by Whio Forever. It\u2019s a solid endorsement of the work we\u2019re doing out there and will enable us to do even more.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In addition to its Whio conservation work the FLR Trust runs a restoration project aimed at boosting the wild-grown population of the flamboyant and extremely rare shrub called the Kakabeak, undertakes various pest control and eradication initiatives and assists with the re-introduction of forest birds to previously abandoned habitats. It\u2019s also fast carving out a name for itself as one of the most prolific and successful kiwi conservation initiatives in the country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Genesis investment to help cement \u201cencouraging\u201d local Blue Duck numbers A successful Hawke\u2019s Bay whio, or blue duck, conservation project has received a four-year, $107,500 cash injection from Whio Forever, a species recovery programme launched jointly by Genesis Energy and the Department of Conservation (DOC). The grant will enable the Forest Lifeforce Restoration (FLR) Trust […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2172,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"set","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2745","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/saje.nz\/forest\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2745","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/saje.nz\/forest\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/saje.nz\/forest\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/saje.nz\/forest\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/saje.nz\/forest\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2745"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/saje.nz\/forest\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2745\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2746,"href":"https:\/\/saje.nz\/forest\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2745\/revisions\/2746"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/saje.nz\/forest\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2172"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/saje.nz\/forest\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2745"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/saje.nz\/forest\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2745"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/saje.nz\/forest\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2745"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}