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CONCERNS ANSWERED:
Dear Friends of Bream Head,
Recently there have been expressions of concern at the use of a predator proof fence to exclude mammalian pests from the Bream Head Scenic Reserve. Misgivings seem to be based on the notion that kiwi numbers here and in other reserves are on the increase as a result of conventional methods of pest control such as poisoning and trapping. That may be so, but in the following letter Dr Ray Pierce points out that the Bream Head Conservation Trust's vision for Bream Head goes well beyond the protection of kiwi. Ray Pierce (shown right banding a Pycrofts petrel on Lady Alice Island) is a professional ecologist and a member of the Trust's Restoration Committee.
David Monro
Ray writes in response to two letters which appeared in the Northern News:
This letter is a response to comments from two of your correspondents (Blunden 3/5/06; Le Heron 24/5/06) that question the worth of predator exclusion at Bream Head.
The Bream Head proposal is significantly more than the predator control portrayed by either correspondent. It is an ecosystem restoration initiative that aims to rejuvenate ecological processes in a site containing nationally important habitat, and to reintroduce many very sensitive threatened species, neither of which can be achieved by conventional predator control.
Although brown kiwi, kaka, bellbirds and some other threatened species are benefitting from many years of conventional control at Bream Head, these species comprise only a portion of the vision for the area. The restoration of this costal forest ecosystem requires the reinstatement of key ecological processes like high levels of nutrient cycling for plant germination and growth - this can be achieved only through the recovery of seabird (especially petrel) colonies which were once prolific on headlands like this throughout NZ. The vision for Bream Head also requires the recovery of a raft of sensitive invertebrate, reptile and other bird species (things like large cyclodinid lizards, tuatara, the honeyeater suite, kokako, saddlebacks and many others including potentially a second species of kiwi) that no longer occur here or are at best vagrants.
The above threatened species are particularly sensitive (far more sensitive than brown kiwi) generally small animals, individuals of which are vulnerable to mammals throughout their lives. They require more than just the standard control to low levels of mustelids, cats and dogs by the continued use of toxins and traps - in fact they require the complete elimination of these pests, along with the complete elimination of all other mammalian pests including possums, rodents, rabbits and hedgehogs, and an effective barrier to stop their recolonisation.
Bream Head is ideal for this restoration initiative as it has outstanding coastal forest values. At last there will be a place where the public can view a healthy coastal forest ecosystem along with many of its fauna and flora species that are currently missing from the Northland mainland. It will also provide a source of sensitive fauna species (not just kiwi) for other sites in Northland as increasing numbers of sites become more intensively managed. Some of this contribution will initially be via natural dispersal from Bream Head to e.g. Whangarei Heads as a whole, while other species can be translocated further afield.
Ray Pierce
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