Welcome to the 

Piroa Conservation Trust

Our Story

Today, a diverse and expanding community is actively involved in conservation and connected to the natural environment. Since restoration efforts began at Marunui Conservation over 30 years ago, landcare initiatives have significantly increased throughout the Piroa-Brynderwyns area. Now, under the coordination of the community-led Piroa Conservation Trust (PCT), over 30 groups are collaborating to restore healthy ecosystems through predator control, weed management, water care, and revegetation in this high-value area.
What We Are Doing...

Our community-led conservation projects cover a wide range of topics from planting, pest control, weed management, track building and maintenance, water care and more. We work with sponsors, councils, and like minded people to protect and restore this valuable area.
Image: Aaron Skelton - Fairy Terns at Waipu

Why We Are Doing It...

In this area is the Bream Tail Coastal Headland, an area of vegetation comprises mostly coastal forest and shrubland and has close affinities with Hen Island (Taranga) vegetation. Many of these vegetation types are important because Bream Tail is the only place in the Waipu Ecological District that they occur.
Image: Aaron Skelton - Northern Rata Flower 

How We Are Doing It...

The PCT steering group now coordinates funding and resources for over 30 conservation groups. About one third of the budget is allocated to weed control, one third to professional trapping in the difficult terrain, and one third to trapping resources, workshops and events.  We also have a fund from MPI for our catchment work.
Image: David Skilton -Wetapunga

Our Challenge

It is a big task but we have an amazing group of volunteers, sponsors, donors, partners and supporters helping the team move ahead.
See more about the big challenge on the link below.
We are always looking for new volunteers to help with a wide variety of tasks. if you are ken let us know.

Latest News

Kiwi Survey

The survey the extent of kiwi movement now that large areas in the ranges are actively under pest control by wonderful teams of volunteers and landowners. Where are the birds now, and are they breeding successfully? What is the population now? Are we doing everything we can to keep them safe? Read more..

Local trapping legend traps a ferret, safeguarding wildlife!

In an amazing community effort and conservation dedication, local trapping legend Iain MacLeod successfully captured a ferret in the Waipu Gorge DOC reserve last Saturday. The ferret was caught in a DOC200 trap, carefully baited with fresh rabbit just a week prior. Read more..

Fish survey holds vital clues on whitebait and fairy tern in Waipū Estuary

Water quality in our Bream Bay rivers holds the key to the survival of many vital fish and bird species, particularly the declining native whitebait/inanga and the endangered tara iti, also known as the New Zealand fairy tern.
Read more..

Eco-detectives at work: What’s in our local Waipu rivers?

With just a cup of water, eDNA allows the identification of a wide range of species, ranging from fish and macroinvertebrates to birds, mammals, reptiles, amphibians, plants, fungi, bacteria and other organisms. This cost-effective method gives valuable insights into species across time and space, helping to monitor biosecurity threats and understand fluctuations in the health of waterways. 
Read more..

Programmes, Working Groups & Events

Working Groups

Find out more about our volunteer group, when they meet and where.  We have groups for pest trapping, weeding, track building, dunes clean ups, school programmes, planting, water catchment restoration, nursery care, and more in Mangawhai, Langs, Waipu, Waipu Cove and Bream Bay.

Working Bees

We regularly run working bees so if you are keen to see what coming up visit the link below.

Our School Curriculum

We recognise the importance of raising awareness & involving them in conservation focused activities in our area. Focused on a point of difference in what they provide to schools -supporting teachers provide hands on/practical activities that are part of the Conservation experience for students. 

Workshops

We run a series of workshops throughout the year for the general public around topics such as Know Your Dog, Trapping, Pest Weeds, H&S for volunteers and so on. 

Our People, Partners & Sponsors

The Piroa Conservation Trust is a coalition of over 30 community-led conservation groups dedicated to restoring biodiversity in the Brynderwyn ranges and surrounding areas. Their projects span a 30,000-hectare area, encompassing the Piroa-Brynderwyn ranges down to Waipu, Bream Tail, and Mangawhai, all recognized for their high conservation value. The Northland brown Kiwi, successfully translocated between 2013 and 2015, are now breeding in the hills, and other rare birds like the Fairy Tern also call this area home.

Local businesses have been incredibly supportive of PCT's efforts. We extend our heartfelt thanks to the Waipu Menzshed for making trap boxes, Northpine for supplying timber, and other businesses and donors who have provided locations for weed disposal bins, venues and catering for workshops, and donations for bait stations and trapping lines.

The success of conservation efforts in the Piroa-Brynderwyns is also due to valuable partnerships with landowners, iwi, and government agencies such as the Department of Conservation (DoC) and the Northland Regional Council. These in-kind contributions are deeply appreciated and valued beyond their monetary worth.

A huge shout-out to our sponsors who have made our work possible over the past year, including ITM Waipu, Northpine, Menzshed Waipu, Hammer Hardware Waipu, Mangawhai Natives, The Mangawhai Club, the Waipu Surf Lifesaving Club, and the Royal New Zealand Air Force.

If you would like to join our band of supporters, please email us [email protected]

Contact Us

Web page was started with Mobirise