Moehau Environment Group

03/06/2026

THIS SUNDAY NIGHT...
How are our marine waters at threat from introduced species? What is being done about it?

Come hear marine biologist Scott Godwin speak at the Pepper Tree Restaurant on Sunday 7th June at 5pm. A relaxed and informative evening get together, FREE but koha welcome to support our conservation in northern Coromandel and we'll be running a fundraising raffle through winter for one of the awesome AT220s

Scott Godwin has been working on the problem of marine alien species since 1991 when he began his career at the Smithsonian in Washington DC, sampling ballast water on commercial and U.S Navy vessels. Since then he has worked in Hawaii, researching vessel biofouling transport and coral reef ecology, and is now collaborating on marine biosecurity advice and education in Aotearoa NZ.

30/05/2026

Free at last! Taking a moment at today's wild ginger weeding day to release a young putaputawētā tree from the strangling creeper vine, climbing asparagus.

30/05/2026

Ready to go a little bit batty? In August we'll be welcoming Natasha Bansal to our Winter Lecture Series to speak about pekapeka. Read more about her work with the awesome bat-enthusiasts at Finding Franklin Bats here ⬇️
"Bansal kicked the project off by leading “batwalks.” Her goal was to get community members “a little bit excited about the potential of having bats in their backyards,” ... She taught community members how to recognize bat roosts, see bats at night, and track bat calls using detectors on their own property."

Billy Mclean knew nothing about bats. As a lifelong Kiwi, there was no reason for him to. Unlike in neighboring Australia and other parts of Oceania whose renowned flying foxes grow meter-long wingspans, Aotearoa New Zealand is famous for its birds, not bats. Mclean worked as an arborist in the Fran...

29/05/2026

Ginger morning! Wild kahili ginger bash, leaving from Driving Creek railway carpark at 9am, today, Saturday 30th May. Come make a difference to our ngahere and remove some invasive weeds!

29/05/2026

Thank you so much to the crew from who have been up here on their training course to be outdoor education instructors and pitched in to release weeds and clear ground for new native plantings. So pleased to meet you and what a huge difference you made to the plants in the Children's Forest. It will make it easier for the Colville School children who have been coming to plant here for 20 years 😃

29/05/2026

Huge thanks to our sponsor NZ AutoTraps for donating an AT220 trap for our Winter Lecture Series raffle this year. These traps have been game-changing for our possum control work (more on that later) as they are self-resetting, and they capture rats and stoats too. Raffle tickets are so affordable you can buy several!! Come along to our events through winter at the Pepper Tree Restaurant in Kapanga/Coromandel town, great chance to meet up and learn something new. Our first event is Sunday 7th June at 5pm.

29/05/2026

Only 49% aware of local trapping 😭 I hope it's more in the Coromandel Peninsula where we have so many awesome groups doing the mahi 💚💚

Nearly eight out of ten New Zealanders support the ambitious goal of completely eradicating introduced predators.

While only about 26% of people currently have confidence that it can be done, that number is growing.

Find out what New Zealanders think about Predator Free 2050 in this new survey 👇

27/05/2026

Check out the prizes and competition details below, plenty for kids and adults to get creative!

Need a little more time to capture that perfect nature shot or finish your colouring creation?

Good news - after a few requests for extra time, we’ve extended the deadline for our Conservation Week photography and colouring competitions from 30 May to 30 June.

We’ve already received some amazing entries, so keep them coming.

Entry and competition details are in the comments.

27/05/2026

Shout out to the Waiau Wetlands team who sent us this pic of a stoat caught in a rat trap they purchased from us. Such a great result and unusual to see a stoat caught this way, a first for these committed trappers! The trapping around Waiau Wetlands is protecting vulnerable birds like these pāteke and poaka.

Edit: ok, we agree 🤣 it's most likely a weasel. Tail does have a black tip (hard to see in the pic), but tail shape is more like a weasel. It's a big one though, that box is 30cm long 👀. Either way it's a great catch to take out any mustelid, awesome Waiau Wetlands and Dead Rat
UPDATE edit: trapper has gone back to double check the carcass and it is a STOAT. Another clue is the straight demarcation line between white and tan, not wiggly like a weasel as someone has mentioned in the comments. Thanks for offering your thoughts everyone!!!

Thanks for sharing your pics, Sandy Flooks 😃