THE GAME PLAN

The Kaharoa Kōkako Trust carries out a pest-control sweep ahead of the kōkako breeding season, a strategy led by a national experiment on pest control. Maintaining tracks and bait stations wasn’t always a walk in the park; Laurence remembers the days when volunteers all piled into a 4WD ute to navigate through the rough forest. “You couldn’t get in and out any other way,” he says. The number of trails and bait stations — in line with the kōkako — has increased dramatically since the trust’s inception. These days, up to 30 volunteers disperse themselves among the bush, each covering two to three tracks within the 803-hectare conservation area. kokako.org.nz