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Make it happen...
Island restoration
Bringing the vision into classrooms
Art supporting conservation
Looking after what's beneath the reflections
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/puresalt/images/Logo-complete-ID-58fcccd7-e883-433f-efb5-05457def378b.png "Pure Salt"){kind=logo}
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ONE ISLAND AT A TIME
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We run Pure Salt as a social enterprise which allows us to look after what we care for and we continue to be humbled by just how many people come together in so many different ways to do what they can to help...
Join us and become a piece of the puzzle...
Learn more about how to help
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To be part of the overall vision Pure Salt has initiated a project to remove rats from Mamaku / Indian Island in Tamatea / Dusky Sound in order to protect vulnerable native species on the Island as well as to reduce the risk of rats swimming to nearby rat-free Islands.
Our goal is reduce the rat population to undetectable levels to enable future translocations of native species and play our part in the overall restoration.
The work started in 2018 using a grid network of GoodNature A24 self re-setting traps on an approximate 100 x 100/50 grid as well as a further 100 double set Snap traps and 20 DOC200 traps across the island. Over 17km of tracklines are cut and a network of over 300 traps put in place and maintained - dropping rat tracking from 30% to under 5% since 2020!
Trackingtunnels, motion cameras as well as newly installed CHIRPS are used to monitor predator numbers and the installation of a buffer zone on Long Island is underway to prevent reinvasion down the line.
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Working on Mamaku/Indian Island we naturally looked at where reinvasion is likely coming from. On islands closer than a kilometer to the mainland eradication is a reoccurring task.
So we looked at the closest point which is the western end of Long Island with convenient stepping stone islands towards the eastern shores of Mamaku/Indian Island. Department of Conservation put in place and is servicing the coastal traps on Long Island and there were remanence of an old network around the heads.
So a network of DOC200 and A24 at times only 25m apart was enforced.. cutting new tracks, opening up the old ones, using some of the old traps and installing A24s at each trap point.
From there we talked to local DOC and concluded that an internal stoat line across Long Island would be beneficial to not just protect Mamaku/Indian Island but also Mauikatau/Resolution Island.
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We also noticed that the most western islands of Mamaku/Indian always seem to have high rat catches as well as observing stoats playing on the beach in Pickersgill Harbour on multiple occasions. The gap between Pickersgill and Mamaku/Indian is not much bigger than that to Long Island so we decided that a little buffer zone can only be a good thing.
This little buffer zone now consists of 40 A24s and 20 DOC200 as well as a couple of traps on Crayfish Island with continuous catches of both rats and stoats.
This loop too is serviced in line with the remaining networks.
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I - Project start..
26th - 30th of October 2018
100% of the fares paid by clients went towards the project.
This trip was highly successful and we installed 40 Goodnature A24 traps and 6 rat monitoring lines, so that the team can gather data and track the progress of the project.
II - Christmas track cutting..
27th - 31st of December 2018
A group of 12 volunteers was working towards cutting the remaining tracks on Indian Island / Mamaku so we're ready to install the next batch of traps. A great effort completing the full marking and cutting of 2/3 of the tracks on the island with the remainder marked out ready to be cut.
III - four monthly check..
7th - 9th of February 2019
Volunteers set the tracking tunnels and rebaited the existing network of A24 traps whilst we continued to cut the remaining tracks, install a donated motion camera as well as 60 further traps!!! So 50% of the traps are on the ground within 5 month of the project start. Thank you!
IV - Conservation Adventure..
12th - 16th of June 2019
All proceeds went towards purchasing traps for Indian Island / Mamaku and part of the adventure will be dedicated to the 2nd four monthly check of the existing network as well as the 6 monitoring lines, the cutting of the remaining tracks and of course the installation of more A24s.
V - Conservation Adventure..
23rd - 27th of October 2019
All proceeds went towards purchasing traps for Indian Island / Mamaku and part of the adventure was dedicated to the 3rd four monthly check of the existing network as well as the 6 monitoring lines.. Motion camera featured two kiwis!
As well as the work start on adjacent 2,000ha LONG ISLAND to protect Mamaku Indian as well as Resolution Island from further rat and stoat invasions.
VI - four monthly check..
6th - 8th of February 2020
Volunteers set the tracking tunnels and rebait the existing network of A24 traps as well as installed 12 motion cameras to not just track predators but also what we look to protect. Rat tracking sits at 30%.
VII -Conservation Adventure
7th - 11th of June 2020
All proceeds went towards purchasing traps for Indian Island / Mamaku and part of the adventure was dedicated to the 5th four monthly check of the existing network as well as the 6 monitoring lines, 12 cameras (all but two featured kiwi) and the newly installed CHIRPS as well as of course the installation of further A24s on Long Island. Background tracking of rats drops to 5% - the threshold for translocations!
VIII-Conservation Adventure
6th - 10th of October 2020
All went towards purchasing traps for Indian Island / Mamaku as well as Long Island and part of the adventure was be dedicated to the 6th four monthly check of the existing network as well as the 6 monitoring lines and 12 cameras as well as the cutting of the western most stoat tracks on Long Island and of course the installation of further A24s. Rat tracking drops to 3.3% and the western stoatline on Long Island is populated with DOC200 thanks to a Greer Clayton painting selling and Te Anau Helicopter Services donating fly time!!
VIIII-Four monthly Rebait.. and a little extra
17th - 19th of February 2021
On the back of a stint by High Country Contracting volunteers cutting on Long Island and Chris and Chris pre rebaiting Mamaku Indian Island with eraze in early January.. Volunteers including Stan and his intrepid adventurers rebaited Indian Island / Mamaku as well as Long Island as well as the 6 monitoring lines and 12 cameras whilst also connecting up the western most stoat tracks on Long Island. AND Rat tracking drops to 1.6% with only one tunnel tracking out of 60 and cameras and traps are telling the same story.
X -Conservation Adventure
1st - 5th of June 2021
All proceeds went towards purchasing traps for Indian Island / Mamaku and part of the adventure was dedicated to the four monthly check of the existing network as well as the 6 monitoring lines, 12 cameras (all but two featured kiwi) and the newly installed CHIRPS as well as of course the installation of further A24s on Long Island. Background tracking of rats remained at 1.6% - the threshold for translocations! AND a further 60 DOC200 trap boxes were flown onto Long Island by Te Anau Helicopter Services free of charge and layed out by wonderful humans volunteering their time and energy!
XI -Conservation Adventure
17th - 21st of October 2021
All proceeds went towards purchasing traps for Indian Island / Mamaku and part of the adventure was dedicated to the four monthly check of the existing network as well as the 6 monitoring lines, 12 cameras (all but two still featured kiwi) as well as of course the installation of further A24s on Long Island. Background tracking of rats drops to 0%!!! AND a further 100 double set snap trap boxes were placed on the NW corner of Mamaku/Indian to increase the buffer for invasions.
XII -Conservation Adventure
3rd - 8th of January 2022 as extra..
All proceeds went towards purchasing traps for Indian Island / Mamaku and part of the adventure was dedicated to an extra check of the existing network as well as the 6 monitoring lines, 12 cameras (all but one still featured kiwi) as well as of course the installation of further A24s on Long Island. Besides that we managed to run extra track maintenance as well as some extra trap checks for the network on Mauikatau/Resolution Island.
XIII-Conservation Adventure
9th - 11th of February 2022
A full boat load of volunteers was dedicated to a check the existing network as well as the 6 monitoring lines, 12 cameras (all but one still featured kiwi) Background tracking still sits at 0%!!!!!
XIV -Conservation Adventure
4th - 8th of June 2022
All proceeds went towards purchasing traps for Indian Island / Mamaku and part of the adventure was dedicated to the four monthly check of the existing network as well as the 6 monitoring lines, 12 cameras (all but two featured kiwi) and background tracking of rats was 1.6% - still well below the 5% threshold for translocations! We caught very few individuals and the tracking card results were confirmed by the camera footage which has tipped from rats and a few birds when we started to birds and the occasional rat now!!!
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XV -Conservation Adventure
14th- 18th of October 2022
All proceeds went towards purchasing traps for Indian Island / Mamaku and part of the adventure was dedicated to the four monthly check of the existing network as well as the 6 monitoring lines, 12 cameras (all but two featured kiwi) and background tracking of rats was 0% !!!
XVI -Conservation Adventure
3rd - 5th of February 2023
The whole vessel full of keen volunteers serviced Mamaku/Indian and Long Island as well as Pickersgill Harbour! Rat tracking was 3.3% which is still under the magical 5% mark with robins everywhere and returnees remarking on how loud the bush has gotten.. We noted ongoing deer sign and still kiwi infront of all but two cameras.AND a pig infront of one of the cameras which is very unexpected. DOC sent in three dogs and hunters in September following our discovery but found only pig sign without the actual pig.
XVII -Conservation Adventure
2nd - 6th of June 2023
A wonderful bunch of clients and volunteers checked the entire network with rat tracking at 3.3% which is still under the magical 5% mark
AND a pig was discovered infront of one of the cameras which is very unexpected. DOC sent in three dogs and hunters in September following our discovery but found only pig sign without the actual pig.
XVIII -Conservation Adventure
7th - 11th of October 2023
The 'clients' were wonderful humans going just as hard as the volunteers onboard. Everyone talking about robins and kakariki everywhere tawaki/yellow crested pengins were safely getting into their breeding season. Rat tracking was at 5% with three out of 60 cards tracking which made us think about putting an extra check in over spring.. We noted ongoing deer sign and still kiwi infront of all but two cameras with no sign of the Pig.
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XVIIII-Conservation Adventure
31st of January - 2nd of February 2024
A boat full of volunteers allowed for a swift working bee with rat tracking back down to 0%, kiwi footage in daylight, a stoat roaming on the island and ongoing deer sign.
XX -Conservation Adventure
1st - 5th of June 2024
A mix of awesome volunteers and clients allowed for extra work and checks on Pigeon Island which was wonderful. Rat tracking remained at 0% while the stoat is still roaming with extra rebaits during charters whenever possible. We noted high catch rates for rats as well as a few stoats on the networks on Long Island as well as Pickersgill harbour which puts the work on Mamaku / Indian into perspective. We're still seeing kiwi infront of all but one camera!!!
XXI -Conservation Adventure
October 2024
Volunteers and clients successfully rebaited the entire network as well as found time to enjoy the place. Rat tracking remained at 0% while the stoat is still alive despite extra trap resets. It was noted that rat numbers in general were down with only 7 caught across the island and hardly any seen on the camera footage.
XXII - EXTRA Conservation Adventure November 2024
A boat full of wonderful volunteers and a few MAD volunteers joined us to recover some gear from our MPI project around Undaria for the TamateaBLUE side of things before heading to Pigeon Island to complete the cutting of the tracks. So the island it now ready to receive traps across a full rat network !!!! We also installed audio recorders on both Pigeon and Mamaku/ Indian Island for better baseline monitoring. They are currently running on 'kiwi' duty before we set them to the full bandwidth this coming February. Exciting stuff!!!
