Community rallies together to protect bats
A Waikato community is taking the first steps to protect native species from extinction, following the discovery of a nationally threatened bat species north of Hamilton.
Farmers, residents, land managers and conservation experts met in April to set out a recovery programme to protect bats in agriculture landscapes within Piako.
Dr Norman Mason discovered native long-tailed bats in Morrinsville after a series of surveys that stemmed from the Covid-19 lockdown.
Before this, no-one had heard or seen the chestnut brown nocturnal species in more than two decades, causing concern that the local bat population had died out.
If you go looking for threatened species, people need to be ready to protect them. Otherwise, you’re just a tourist, Mason said.
He decided to set up the event – in conjunction with the Piako Catchment Forum and the sponsorship of Manaaki WhenuaLandcare Research – after more people became interested in his work.
The main issues of the day – maintenance of big old trees in the landscape and predator control.
‘‘Big old trees are vital for our bats as roosting sites and predator control is important because pests like possums and rats kill bats in their roosts or push bats out of potential roosting sites.’’
Landowners expressed a high level of interest in the issues, but all ideas came with uncertainty.
‘‘Landowners may experience pushback on inclusion of predator and weed control in native habitats within milking contracts,’’ Mason said.
They need help, many landowners won’t have time to do the work or pay for contractors themselves, he said.
It was agreed that central government agencies, such as the Ministry of Primary Industries and Department of Conservation, should be doing more to help landowners and protect threatened native species on their land.
Until then, Mason and the Piako Catchment Forum will seek feedback from other sectors of the community and how it can establish a Piako-wide predatorfree project.
Experts at the Department of Conservation, the Waikato Regional Council, Project Echo, QEII Trust and New Zealand Landcare Trust will also respond to various priorities around technical support and access to information.