Phase 1: Te Motu Kairangi, Miramar Peninsula

The outcomes of our work on the Miramar Peninsula are a tribute to an epic collective effort.

The project relied on the support of 20,000 locals, and involved almost every business, school and kindergarten, hundreds of volunteers, Predator Free Miramar, technical experts, and 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 (Port Nicholson Settlement Trust).

Outcomes achieved:

• Successfully eliminated Norway rats, ship rats, stoats and weasels from the entire Miramar Peninsula (approx 1,000 hectares).
• Developed a replicable template for predator free projects working in urban environments, achieving cost reductions of up to 75% per hectare.
• 71% increase in native bird detections since the project began.
• Widespread and equitable participation across the project. This means the ecological and wellbeing benefits, such as rat free homes or increased wildlife, and potential benefits of participating, such as improvements to people’s psychological and social wellbeing, are not limited to particular sectors of society. Learn more in this report.

Qualitative evaluation – Most Significant Change

To better understand the impact of the project at a deeper level, Predator Free Wellington is capturing stories from residents, volunteers, staff and key stakeholders about changes that may have resulted from their involvement in our predator free project on the Miramar Peninsula. We are using a technique called Most Significant Change, which is a participatory form of monitoring and evaluation that measures intangible qualitative indicators.

In July 2023, our first stories were collected from four of our original employees and we had our first Selection Process in August. The stories summarised below were chosen as the ‘most significant’. More stories will be shared throughout 2024.

Impact theme: Changes in the quality of people’s lives

• Career path for skilled predator free workers. This story was selected by our panel as it gave us unique insight into our people and their growth. It offered us a perspective we hadn’t previously fully appreciated. It shows the importance of long-term funding, and it is clear that the only way we can achieve our national predator free 2050 goal is if we value people and their career progression. Read the full story: Career path for skilled predator free workers

Impact theme: Innovation

• We’ve cracked the methodology. A Predator Free Wellington Engagement Field Operator shares how Miramar Peninsula has been the proving ground. We are the urban piece of the puzzle for Predator Free 2050 New Zealand goal. This story was selected by our panel as most significant as it recognises how far we’ve come on our predator free journey – we now have a successful formula. There’s massive pride in the work, people see themselves as part of the national picture. This didn’t exist in the same way before. Read the full story: We’ve cracked the methodology.

Quantitative evaluation – Five minute bird counts

A network of 84 five minute bird count stations has been established on Miramar Peninsula to monitor the response of local bird populations to Predator Free Wellington’s efforts to eliminate rats and mustelids from the peninsula. A single bird count has been carried out at each count station in November each year between 2017 and 2022.

A total of 33 bird species has been recorded during these counts over the past six years including 22 terrestrial bird species, eight of which are native and 14 are introduced. A further four native terrestrial bird species have been reported occurring on Miramar Peninsula by citizen scientists but have not yet been detected during these five minute bird counts.

Trends in the encounter rates of terrestrial bird species:

• Seventy-one percent more native birds were counted in 2022 than in 2017.
• Mean annual counts of pīwakawaka / New Zealand fantail have increased by 500% since 2017.
• Mean annual counts of riroriro / grey warbler have increased by 340% since 2017.
• Mean annual counts of tūī have increased by 72% since 2017.
  
  

  
  Locations of five minute bird count stations surveyed on Miramar Peninsula each year between 2017 and 2022. Yellow triangles represent the seven bird count stations established in 2011 as part of the Wellington City bird monitoring programme; blue circles represent the 77 bird count stations established in 2017 as part of the Miramar Peninsula bird monitoring programme.