Moana is a Broadmeadows resident and co-lead for Predator Free Broadmeadows as well as the lead for neighbouring suburb Predator Free Johnsonville. Alongside her daughter, Arianna, she’s put many hours into expanding the network and targeting local rat populations.
It all began when Arianna started trapping at school and as a lover of animals realised that ‘in order to protect them we need a trap’. Moana and Arianna then got involved with Predator Free Broadmeadows (PFB) and soon after, became involved with Predator Free Johnsonville (PFJ) as well. At that stage there were 88 households signed up to PFJ and they knew of only 17 who were actively trapping. Since then they’ve issued over 200 traps to keen households.
‘We’ve been going out door knocking and also delivering the bait, cleaning traps and making sure people are still trapping. If they’re not then we recollect the traps and tunnels,’ Moana explains. They also check traps for elderly neighbours on the network and on their recent rounds have modifiying some tunnel entrances which helping reduce bird bycatch.
‘When I’m out and about, people recognise my car and say “you’re the trap lady – we missed you last time so please come and see us,” because they want a trap. I even get recognised in the supermarket,’ Moana tells me with an abashed laugh. ‘We often have people offering to help out delivering leaflets or traps and it’s going to make it easier the more people that get involved.’
Keeping track of their network using Trap.NZ and a colour coded Google map, Moana also meets with the leaders of trapping groups from Khandallah, Broadmeadows and Churton Park to discuss their network borders, reserve trap lines and share what they’ve been up to.
Across Johnsonville and Broadmeadows there’s around 5000 households. By joining forces with PFB co-lead Owen, they’re motivated to get ‘1 in 5 households trapping with three streets covered from every boundary by the time Predator Free Wellington arrives’. It’s a hugely impressive effort and ambitious goal, to which Moana humbly responds, ‘It’s for a good cause and if they bring those kiwi into our reserves, it will all be worth it’.