Eliminating rats, stoats and weasels from the Miramar Peninsula was an epic collective effort
It relied on the support of 20,000 locals, and involved almost every business, school and kindergarten, every third household, hundreds of volunteers, Predator Free Miramar and technical experts. We are hugely grateful to our foundation partners Greater Wellington Regional Council, Wellington City Council, Predator Free 2050 Ltd, NEXT Foundation and Taranaki Whānui ki Te Upoko o Te Ika.
We are extremely proud to present this video as a marker of that milestone.
Now that we understand how we do this, we’re onto Phase 2 – west from the airport and stretching from Ōwhiro Bay to Wellington’s CBD.
We need your help to keep Mirarmar predator free – please report any signs of rats
Why did we start in Miramar?
Te Motu Kairangi was a perfect starting place as it has a bit of everything! 1086 ha of urban, suburban, bush and steep coastal escarpment, 12 schools, 19,230 residents across seven socioeconomically and culturally diverse suburbs. Importantly, the Wellington Airport runway across Rongotai gave us a barrier which was easier to defend. As an added bonus, the Peninsula has been possum free since 2006.
Is Miramar predator free?
Yes! We removed Norway rats and weasels in 2021, and completed Phase 1 in November 2023 by removing ship rats. You can read more about this exciting milestone or catch up on the celebration event. We actively monitor the Peninsula in case rats try to sneak back in. We’re also working in our Phase 2 area.
How do we keep rats off Miramar Peninsula?
We expect rats may occasionally reinvade the Peninsula but we are confident we can find and remove them. We use a rat detector dog team, monitoring cameras, volunteers and local residents – and the system has worked for more than a year! As we work through our Phase 2 project this will take the pressure off the Peninsula. If you live on the motu and detect any sign of rats, please let us know! We rely on Miramar locals to be our eyes and ears on the ground to prevent pests sneaking back in.
The outcomes for our native taonga are amazing
There has been a 91% increase in signs of native birds, including five times more pīwakawaka and 250% more riroriro. We’ve also recorded a 200% increase in tree wētā. We’re spotting species previously absent from the Peninsula such as kārearea (rarer than kiwi), kākāriki, kākā, ruru and geckos.
This has all been made possible by backyard trapping group Predator Free Miramar
Dan Henry started the group in 2017, and five years later this hugely motivated community of over 1,000 households had caught more than 10,000 introduced predators! We also had committed locals that met every Sunday while Phase 1 was active to clear traps along the coast and reserves – making up 10% of our operational workforce on the Peninsula. They also help our biosecurity monitoring process. You can learn more about the PFM story by reading Dan’s profile and his handy guide ‘How to kill rats and engage a community’.
Want to report a sighting or have an enquiry? Contact us. Want to learn more about our project? Have a read of our FAQs.