IMPACT STORIES: WE'VE CRACKED THE METHODOLOGY

Credit: Jim HuylebroekQualitative evaluation- Most Significant Change

To better understand the impact of the Te Motu Kairangi, Miramar Peninsula 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 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.

This story below 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.

Impact theme: Innovation Change

First person story from a Predator Free Wellington Engagement Field Operator, August 2023.

I started working with Predator Free Wellington in 2019 as an Engagement Field Officer. There have been a number of changes over the years, but the most significant change for me is around the overall knowledge we have gained from the Miramar project, including having a successful methodology for an urban eradication in New Zealand, as well as the wider benefits of having eradication specialists that can use their skills to work on other predator free projects and contribute to the national Predator Free 2050 goal.

When we started the eradication, our method was based on a grid-based system of 50m x 50m for bait stations and 100m x 100m for traps. To be fair, that worked for Norway Rats and weasels, but not Ship rats. The devices we used had closed architecture and locked bait stations, they were still effective, but not effective enough to get every rat.

The turning point for me was in late 2021 when we went back to the drawing board and revised our approach. We had accepted that the techniques we were previously using weren’t working, and realised we needed to improve our understanding of rat habitat, especially Cape Ivy. We gradually started shifting our efforts, taking our devices to the rats - but we were still not cracking it.

A second turning point came when we shifted our focus onto Oruaiti Reserve as a test area. We gave it everything, installed more devices, we used open architecture devices and serviced them weekly for months. We also had lots of monitoring cameras and used detection dogs to help track signs of rat activity. We were liaising with ZIP (Zero Invasive Predators) and they were guiding us a lot and giving technical advice and regularly tested our thinking.

It was super intensive, it worked, and we were able to apply the Oruaiti Approach learning into the southern zone of the peninsula using a ‘rolling front’ approach. From Oruaiti Reserve onwards team morale picked up dramatically. Pre-Oruaiti some were starting to question whether it could be achieved. Oruaiti was us going back to the drawing board. Our earlier method needed to be scrapped and we needed to move on. When the team saw Oruaiti work, we knew it could be achieved, it was a big morale boost and that was great.

When new staff came on, we developed training modules for them, that incorporated what we’d learnt, including how to identify rat signs in the environment. Basically we teach our employees to think like a rat, where will rats likely be hanging out. The technical skills amongst the team are some of the best in the world, we have honed eradication specialists now.

We’ve learnt how to create a method that works (we have an eradication recipe), we can now continue the project into Phase 2 and across Wellington. Miramar Peninsula has been the proving ground, we are the urban piece of the puzzle for Predator Free 2050 New Zealand goal.

This change is significant to me because the success of our project supports the national 2050 predator free goal and it increases the success rate for other projects.

We are now sharing our knowledge with other predator free projects and are looking at writing up learning journals for scientific papers.

It’s shocking to think now how much we didn’t know at the beginning, we’re miles ahead from where we were back in 2019. We’ve cracked the methodology.

About the Most Significant Change technique

The Most Significant Change (MSC) technique is a participatory form of monitoring and evaluation that measures intangible qualitative indicators.

The process involves the collection of impact stories from the field level, and the analysis of these stories by a panel to better understand the impact our Phase 1 Miramar project is having for residents and the community. It also clarifies the values held by different stakeholders.

Initially MSC will be used to evaluate the impact of the Te Motu Kairangi, Miramar Peninsula elimination project. The ability for promotion/storytelling also plays a part, however that is not the overall objective.

In July our first stories were collected from four of our ‘original’ employees and we had our first Selection Process in August. This story is part of the feedback process.

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