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David and his wife moved to Northland from Nelson two years ago and after completing a pest control course at Northtec, he began as a volunteer which has led to his new full time position. We warmly welcome David as part of our committed team.
As we all recover from the storm, the damage it has inflicted on the Reserve is becoming more apparent. Luckily, our Headquarters managed to stand strong with only the loss of a few signs. The Nursery too held up surprisingly well. The worst damage is harder to see, although anyone driving from Urquhart Bay to Ocean Beach can’t help but notice that the easterly faces on the north side of the Reserve almost appear to have been burnt. Many of the kanuka there have been blown over and stripped of their leaves and the tracks have a lot of branches and trees down.
Although the north side was most affected by the ferocious winds, it is the rain that has impacted more seriously on the south side. Significant slip damage is being uncovered there as our rangers fight through the destruction to reach some of the more remote areas in our Reserve.
The technology in the bush which we wrote about in the last newsletter has taken a hammering, traps and bait stations have been broken, blown away and found stuck under fallen trees. Getting the tracks and infrastructure up to the standard that we aim for will be challenging, and once again we are thankful for the mahi put in by all our volunteers and rangers to pace themselves in getting the job done. Despite the major extra workload of clearing downed trees and branches and reinstating our trapping equipment, our rangers are making sure our first line of defence against predators remains strong.