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Six years ago, rat sightings on Mamaku/Indian Island in Tamatea/Dusky Sound were more common than Kiwi sightings.
Now, thanks to a passionate local effort, rats have almost disappeared, and native bird populations are starting to thrive.
Southlanders Maria Kuster and Séan Ellis launched their adventure-tourism business in 2016 after years spent skippering vessels throughout Fiordland.
Wanting to give back to the land, they created a unique experience where volunteers join their clients to trap pests and monitor the unique wildlife on some of the 700 islands of Tamatea/Dusky Sound as part of the Department of Conservation Tamatea Restoration vision.
In 2018, Wellington-based Goodnature joined their mission, supplying toxin-free traps to help bring their vision of eradicating rats to life.
“For us this is home and we’ve seen firsthand the damage done when nature is out of balance and pests have the upper hand. We learnt early on that removing rats was one of the keys to giving native birds a chance to thrive,” says Maria.
The results speak for themselves. Across 60 tracking sites, rats are almost entirely gone, and camera feeds are full of native birds.
“We’ve had Kiwi sightings on all but one of our 12 cameras—when we first started, those feeds were full of rats,” says Maria. “Kākā, kākāriki, and brown creepers have returned in big numbers, kingfishers and oystercatchers are in every cove, and even the number of falcons is increasing – it’s so rewarding for us and for our guests, who are mostly Kiwis”.
Maria and Séan offer their vessel for private charters, or guests can join one of the conservation-focused five-day adventures through remote Fiordland or Stewart Island, with multiple sailings across the year. Many paying guests for these adventures also return as volunteers to continue their work and take their conservation efforts home, trapping mice and rats in their own backyards to help their local environments thrive.
Goodnature co-founder Craig Bond says they set out to achieve this ripple effect when he and Robbie Van Dam established the company and launched their toxin-free traps in 2005.
“We want to create great trappers because that’s how you get rid of pests – when people see and experience the impact eradicating rats is having in Fiordland, they’re inspired to do the same at home.
“Creating richer ecosystems in backyards across the country has a flow-on effect. Pure Salt isn’t just transforming Tamatea / Dusky Sound – they’re inspiring Kiwis across Aotearoa, a mission we’re proud to be part of,” he says.
