Trust History and Achievements

Mihi

On Nov 11th 2002 a deed of incorporation was signed and the work of the then Great Barrier Island Charitable Trust formally began. Nothing of significance can be achieved alone, and we would like to thank all past and current trustees, coordinators, contractors, donors, members, funders, partners, researchers and friends, on this, our 20th anniversary. Tenei te mihi ki a koutou.

To Ngāti Rehua Ngātiwai ki Aotea, for your leadership, values and tikanga which are being demonstrated through Tū Mai Taonga (TMT) and the restoration of Rakitū.  TMT will achieve what so many people want to see, a predator-free Aotea. It won’t be an easy path, but it’s the one we are all on.

To the Local Board members past and present who have supported the restoration of the island’s ecology through the Ecology Vision and funding of many of Aotea’s community projects, advocating for better biosecurity and the investment in on-island biodiversity staff, a first in the region.

To Windy Hill Sanctuary, Glenfern Sanctuary and Motu Kaikoura, you are constant in your control of pests, support for science and for a predator free island—thank you. 

To the Aotea Bird Count Volunteers, to the Aotea Trap Library team, thank you.  To those who lead, work in or volunteer on community projects on public land or their own, to the Oruawharo Medlands, Okiwi, Awana and Okupu, Cecilia Sudden Bay and Schooner Bay projects—we know it is hard work and we are always ready to support you.

To Okiwi, Mulberry Grove and Kaitoke schools, who embed connection to nature into every day in the classroom, thank you.

To the many staff of the Department of Conservation and Auckland Council who have, over the last 20 years and who now continue to work in support of conservation on this island, thank you. It is appreciated.

And finally to Foundation North and Auckland Council who have ensured the long term sustainability of this trust for many years, and to PF2050 Ltd who were first to back Aotea’s vision, thank you.

Nō reira, tēnā koutou,

tēnā koutou, tēnā koutou katoa.

Kate Waterhouse

Chair, on behalf of the trustees of

Aotea Great Barrier Environmental Trust

Trust History

2002

• Great Barrier Island Charitable Trust (GBICT) formed with vision of rat and feral-cat free island. Founding trustees: Judy Gilbert, John Ogden, Tony Bouzaid, David Speir. Note: name updated to Great Barrier Island Environmental Trust (GBIET) in 2011, and Aotea Great Barrier Environmental Trust (AGBET) in 2018.

2003

• Adopts strategic plan to research the ecological and economic benefits to Aotea of pest-free status, develops mission statement and policies

• First Open Day at Windy Hill Sanctuary

2004

• First issue of Environmental News published – runs 4 issues per year to 2011 when it reverts to 2 per year (edited by David Speir)

• Trust begins to subsidise on-island cat spaying (continues for 14 years)

• Contributes to DOC’s Auckland Conservation Management Strategy

• Open Days Benthorn Farm (Rosalie Bay) and Glenfern Sanctuary

2005

• Runs Summer lecture series with guest speakers and first of three trips to Tiritiri Mātangi for islanders to show what a rat-free island is like

• Website and annual School Prizes established for local schools

2006

• Survey aka ‘The Referendum’ shows significant support for Trust to continue research into methods for rat and feral cat eradication

• Presentation to Auckland Council on possible World Heritage Status

• Trust begins two-year program of island wide community bird counts

• Rat research papers made available in public library

2007

• First Rat Attack workshops held to share information on rats & control

• First community kākā count held

• Submit to Auckland District Plan and contributions to Auckland Regional Council Biosecurity Management Plan for the island and Regional Pest Management Strategy

• Invited speakers at Rats, humans and their impacts on islands conference in Hawaii

2008

• Trust submits on Kiwi recovery plan

• Trust draws attention to algal bloom and stream quality in Tryphena

• Begins research for State of Environment Report for Great Barrier Island

• Three Rat Attack workshops, carbon credits & weeds workshops held

• Sponsorship by Natural Habitats begins

2009

• State of Environment Report occupies Trust for most of the year

• Reports given to Council on the state of Tryphena streams

• Final Report on first island-wide community bird counts

• Ngāti Rehua Ngātiwai ki Aotea (NRNWKA) representative, DOC and Local Board representatives attend Trust meetings

• Prospects for the eradication of rats published in Biological Invasions

2010

• First State of Environment Report for Great Barrier Island published and widely acclaimed (authored by John Ogden and Liz Westbrook)

• Present paper at International Island Invasives conference

• Submits on proposed DOC staff cuts on the island and relocation of managerial team to Warkworth

• Submits in opposition to changes to Schedule 4 of Mining Act, presents at public hearings and joins march down Queen Street with 40,000 others

• Former Trustee Sue Daly elected to Great Barrier Local Board

• NRNWKA begin the process for the return of kōkako to Te Paparahi

• Input to DOC’s Conservation Management Strategy (CMS) for Aotea and begin to work with Hauraki Gulf Forum

2011

• Running the gauntlet – a paper on pest eradication on an inhabited Island published in Island Invasives: Eradication and Management (International Union for the Conservation of Nature), authored by John Ogden and Judy Gilbert

• Local Board forms Environmental Strategy Planning Committee (ESPC) supported by the Trust; GBICT submits, & revises strategic plan

• 17 October, founding trustee Tony Bouzaid dies suddenly, leaving a legacy of environmental action and dedication to the Great Barrier Island community

• Kauri dieback increasingly seen as threat to island’s kauri forests

• Hui to support the return of kōkako hosted by iwi at Motairehe marae

• Black Petrel Action Group formed (collaboration between Forest & Bird, Birdlife International, seabird scientists and iwi)

2012

• Reset of strategic plan leads to rebranding and focus on what needs to be protected and restored and why, rather than how it might be done

• Launch of newsletter Bush Telegraph, edited by Fenella Christian and featuring trustee cartoonist Pete Edmonds & community contributors

• Trust brokers meeting between ESPC/DOC on community consultation process. Local Board commits to community consultation on options for the ecological future of Great Barrier, including possible eradication

• Trust advocates for long-term vision of pest eradication and return of kōkako to be included in DOC’s Auckland region CMS

• Advocacy for the restoration of Rakitū becomes a priority

• Participates in DOC’s first Aotea bittern survey

2013

• Successfully advocates with others for Black Petrel Action Plan to prevent deaths from bycatch in longline fishing fleet, results in Black Petrel Working Group; feral cat control starts at colony on Hirakimatā

• Summer intern Asher Cook reports on bird survey of Hirakimatā

• Former trustee Judy Gilbert is elected to the Great Barrier Local Board

• Trustees attend Island Conservation hui on Tiritiri Mātangi and host Walking Festival & Conservation Week events (which become annual)

• Dame Anne Salmond agrees to become patron of the Trust

• The Trust’s Aotea Bird Checklist sells out

2014

• Participates in community consultation and research to develop the Local Board’s Ecology Vision for the island

• Contributes to consultation on Sea Change to restore the Hauraki Gulf and effects in Aotea’s marine environment

• Trust supported kākā research shows importance of Aotea’s permanent population and transient population visiting from elsewhere in region

• Applies to NEXT Foundation on behalf of a consortium (Council, DOC, iwi & sanctuaries) for long term funding for restoration & eradication

• Trust Chair & Glenfern Sanctuary manager Emma Cronin is awarded a Churchill Fellowship, visits South America to progress black petrel conservation

• New website and identity are launched

2015

• Following establishment of the Aotea Conservation Park (2014), advocated for by the Trust, the park is officially opened. Kate Waterhouse and Judy Gilbert are appointed to and serve on the park’s Advisory Committee (ACPAC) (from 2016-2022)

• Works with Navy and Auckland Council to reduce weed invasion of Claris fire scar (trustee George Perry subsequently supervises research into the area’s vegetation and restoration options)

• Advocates for eradication of invasive plague skinks at Shoal Bay

• Secures funding for further black petrel research on Hirakimatā and to use remote sensing devices in Mulberry Grove rodent control project

2016

• Launch of video series featuring community working in conservation

• Trust advocates with Local Board chair Izzy Fordham for Glenfern to be transferred into public ownership as an Auckland Regional Park (trustee Emma Waterhouse joins the Trust to oversee it)

• Steps up advocacy for an increase in predator control for pāteke following further declines and analysis by Science Advisor John Ogden and trustee June Brookes

• John also publishes the first predator estimates for Aotea: home to a thousand feral cats and a quarterly of a million rats at any one time (Environmental News, Issue 35)

• Secures funding for further feral cat trapping on Hirakimatā

2017

• Founding trustee Judy Gilbert receives QSM for conservation

• Trustee June Brookes successfully advocates for removal of Awana weir

• Trial of A24 self-resetting traps on Hirakimatā begins following trial at Windy Hill and rat density research, managed by John Ogden (the A24s were deployed by DOC across the maunga in 2020 with significant reductions in rat densities)

• Trust’s Okiwi kākāriki project maps out active and potential nest sites and leads to increase in predator management in Okiwi

• Facilitates first application to PF2050 Ltd for funding to remove feral cats and rats from Aotea (collaborative project with NRNWKA, sanctuaries, Local Board, Auckland Council and DOC), unsuccessful, but a foundation was laid

2018

• Aotea Trap Library receives WWF funding and equipment grant (from Auckland Council), appoints Lotte McIntyre as coordinator

• Trust submits report on rat trapping and performance of A24 multi-kill traps on Hirakimatā (over two years) to Good Nature

• Trust support DOC and iwi project to successfully eradicate rats from Rakitū amidst fierce community debate about the methods used

• Submissions are made to Auckland Council’s 30 Year Auckland Plan, Long Term Plan (10-year budget), Local Board Annual Plan and Regional Pest Management Strategy in support of Aotea’s ecology

• Creates installation in the new community museum featuring a display of the wildlife and ecosystems of Aotea, and the threats to them

2019

• Advocates to Council and Hauraki Gulf Forum against marine dumping

• Submits on National Biodiversity Strategy for the recognition of Aotea

• Facilitates first Aotea Conservation Workshop bringing together iwi and all agencies/groups involved in conservation policy & delivery on Aotea

• Acts as umbrella Trust for Oruawharo Medlands Ecovision (OME)

• Auckland Council takes over subsidised cat-neutering on Aotea

• Aotea Bird Count established as an annual, island-wide collaboration between sanctuaries, community groups, iwi, DOC and Council

2020

• Submits on Sea Change implementation and reviews progress of marine protection sharing information with community

• Submits on Auckland Council and Local Board 3-year and annual plans, and the National Policy Statement on Indigenous Biodiversity

• Appears at Ports of Auckland marine dumping concession hearing

• OME secures 3 years funding from Auckland Council and DOC

• Community research in north of island shows 96% support for goal of feral cat and rat removal from Aotea after Tū Mai Taonga project is initiated by ACPAC, facilitated by Trust Chair Kate Waterhouse

• Second Aotea Conservation Workshop facilitated by the Trust agrees shared conservation priorities for the island

• PF2050 agree to fund Tū Mai Taonga project establishment, with AGBET acting as interim Trust

2021

• Tū Mai Taonga project team is established and Trust signs MOU with them to transition project to the leadership of Ngāti Rehua Ngātiwai ki Aotea, securing Jobs for Nature funding until end 2024; Chair, Kate Waterhouse, appointed to the steering committee

• Trustee Emma Waterhouse dies suddenly from cancer (Emma was a Glenfern trustee, Kākāriki Project and State of the Birds of Aotea lead, and Environmental News editor)

• Trust supports Awana community restoration work (planting, trapping & monitoring of the grey-faced petrel colony and rare plant sites)

• Aotea Bird Count is held for third year running

2022

• Aotea Trap Library receives ongoing funding support & endorsement from the Local Board and Auckland Council

• Tū Mai Taonga Feasibility report lays out pathway to eradication of feral cats and rats beginning in Te Paparahi and final transfer of Tū Mai Taonga agreement to NRNWKA by PF2050 is completed

• Aotea Pestival brings six speakers to share their insights and projects on eradication and ecology with the community; Birds of Aotea poster is launched at this event

• Birds of Aotea report and summary on the status of the island’s birds (authored by John Ogden, edited by trustees, Biz Bell and Tim Lovegrove) completed for launch in February 2023

• Aotea Great Barrier Environmental Trust turns 20 on 11 November

• Aotea Bird Count is held for the fourth year running!

many thanks to our supporters…

The gallery showing some of our work over the past 20 years is here.