Mohua are endangered and in decline with a population of less than 5,000.
One of the remaining Mohua populations is located in the Makarora, Blue and Young valleys.
This small population is seriously threatened by rats and stoats, which predate on their eggs and young.
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Mohua are known for their machine-gun-like chatter and bright yellow colours. They are one of New Zealand's smaller endemic birds, with males weighing up to 30 grams and females just 26 grams.
What the credit enables
Maintaining the project area
Each Mohua credit purchased enables the maintenance of established trap networks with monthly trap checks, annual trap calibration and data collection, along with predator presence monitoring and native species monitoring.
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One credit protects 15 hectares of habitat from mustelid species (stoats, ferrets and weasels) using DOC 200 traps and from rats using monster and Victor traps. While the mustelid traps will also catch rats.
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This project uses one stoat trap per 20 hectares which is informed by the latest conservation science and DOC recommendations. Rat traps are intermittent throughout the project based on areas the project managers have identified as most likely to have high rat populations.
Because stoat and rat traps are throughout the same area, I.E. the 15-ha radius from each trap can overlap, each credit ownership entitles the owner to one trapping location. They are also able to claim the beneficial owner of the impact of suppressing 15 hectares of Mohua habitat from predators.
This 15 hectares is not the radius around your trap but 15 hectares within the trapping network. The primary species that this credit is for is Mohua. However, there are also Whio, Kea, Kaka, Wrybill and Banded Dotterel in the area that benefit from these credits.
Transportation
Project delivery
Field crew wages
Bait, lure and traps
Monitoring equipment
