Report: Trapping & Monitoring Workshop
Sunday 27 July 2025, Culverden
We had a great turn-out for our Trapping & Monitoring Workshop in Culverden on Sunday 27th July 2025, attended by 45 people, both young and old.
Richard Shaw of Blythe Valley Community Catchment Group got the afternoon started with an absorbing presentation on his group’s experience of a landscape-scale trapping project. These landowners’ efforts cover 14,000 hectares, with 360 traps and over 2800 kills since January 2024. Richard had a wide range of traps and lures on display and woke everyone up by triggering an AT220 trap from his phone. His talk covered the pros and cons of the different traps, what works best for each target species, use of the TrapNZ app and new developments in traps and lures.
Next up was Shaun Ryan from 2040, the manufacturing partner for the Cacophony Project, which is developing technology to improve predator management and restore native bird populations. Shaun demonstrated their thermal AI camera and audio bird monitor. The camera is much more sensitive for detecting small predators than a trail camera and the data is analysed by machine learning to provide reports and real time updates. The camera can also make audio recordings which are AI processed and can be used to identify individual species and overall trends.
Our final speaker was Sue Sinclair of the Birdsong Project, Scargill. Sue described how to carry out 5- minute bird counts. These can be used to monitor changes in bird populations over time as a way of measuring the effectiveness of conservation projects.
A hearty afternoon tea was followed by a brief discussion on where to next. Ideas include collaborating on a Pest Free Hurunui Project, developing a platform to share knowledge and experiences, sharing trapping data via TrapNZ to build a Hurunui-wide picture and working together on funding and purchasing. Watch this space!
For information on collaborating on trapping in Hurunui contact
Richard Shaw: [email protected] | 022 386 7825
For information on 2040 contact
Shaun Ryan: [email protected] | 021 360 649 | www.2040.co.nz
Workshop: Trapping & Monitoring
1:00pm – 4:00pm Sunday 27 July 2025
Community Room, School Rd, Culverden
This workshop is for trappers, and people who want to start trapping, to learn from each other and discuss practical ways of working together to rid Hurunui of pest animals threatening our native biodiversity.
TRAPPING: Richard Shaw will share his experience about the Blythe Valley Community Catchment Group’s extensive programme, which is supported by Hurunui District Landcare Group.
Topics, with demonstrations, include:
- types of traps, baits and lures;
- how to record data on the TrapNZ App;
- how to connect AT220 automated traps and synchronise telemetry data with Trap NZ;
- using trap sensors, and
- using LoRaWAN (battery-powered networking) for automated
trap activity notifications.
Trap NZ is an online tool to map traps and bait stations and keep records of when they’re rebaited and species captured. You can also log bird counts. When trappers regularly upload data to TrapNZ, a record of what is happening where is generated and gaps can be located. An example is Predatorfree Franklin and its district-wide mapping on https://trap.nz/static/hexmap/
MONITORING: Trapping success is not only measured by pests killed. To know if native vegetation is regenerating, or if birds, lizards and insects are recovering, monitoring is needed.
Sue Sinclair will talk about conducting bird counts at the Birdsong Trust’s regeneration project in Greta Valley, and share useful
handout information and links.
Afternoon tea and more discussion time will follow the presentations.
REGISTER by Wed 23 July. Email [email protected], 0221 600 383
(The Community Room is at the far end of the Amuri Area School campus. Look out for HBT’s flag.)
