Halo Project - Beyond Orokonui

08/06/2026

🪸 Lists of Otago's native lichens, mosses, lichenised fungi, liverworts and hornworts have been compiled by the Regional Council which is a first for any region in Aotearoa/New Zealand!

🤓 Aotearoa/NZ is home to up to 10% of the world's liverwort species! And, there are more than 1,100 indigenous lichen species here in Otago!

These oft overlooked species are part of what makes the biodiversity in this country so wonderful! You can read more from the ORC, links below.. ⬇️

➡️ https://bit.ly/nonvasc

➡️ https://bit.ly/lichenlichen

04/06/2026

👏 Volunteer Trappers are holding many of our mustelid trap lines together! They've contributed 3,622 hours this year and have removed 176 mustelids over the juvenile dispersal season (November to February). 👏

💚 We are very grateful to the volunteers who give their time to protect our landscapes and we look forward to celebrating more success as the year goes on. These devices not only remove mustelids but also rats and hedgehogs. In total the network has removed more than 1,600 predators this year!

🔈We are also always looking for more adventurous volunteers for our Silverstream and Flagstaff traplines, if this is something you'd be interested in please email [email protected]!

03/06/2026

Some of the Predator Free crew celebrating with the birds :)

The Halo Project team have supported our community to remove 90,000+ predators from the North Ōtepoti/Dunedin landscape since 2018, we reckon that's something worth celebrating!

03/06/2026

🐬 Congratulations to all involved on this journey to create ‘Te Au Roa o Te Rakihouia’ or as Kāti Huirapa Runaka ki Puketeraki Chairperson Matapura Ellison explains the "long current of Rakihouia" - the new marine reserve network off the Otago coast!

🐋 Te Rūnanga o Ōtākou Upoko Edward Ellison tells the name reflects the story of Te Rakihouia, the "son of the great explorer Rākaihautū and the first-known human to journey along and around the coastline of the South Island, conveying the enduring relationship between our people and the moana".

🌊 The name also symbolises the Murihiku or Southland current that arrives at our coast from below Te Waipounamu/South Island and "supplies the sustenance for all those wonderful taoka we have" from the "huge whales, periwinkles, cockles and mussells" here in East Otago, "they're all fed from that current" says Te Rūnanga o Moeraki Upoko David Higgins.

🦭 Gazetted in late May these Reserves take effect on 1st July, protecting 308 km² (4%) of the region’s coastal marine area!

🦐 What an epic achievement! To see the proposed partnership between the Department of Conservation, local communities, and Te Rūnanga o Ngāi Tahu in managing the Reserves. This is another hugely positive step for all and a first for marine reserve co-management in Aotearoa. As Upoko Edward Ellison aptly remarks, this model is putting the "matauraka into the mahi".

🪼 These Reserves incorporate diverse ecosystems including estuaries, lagoons, reefs, bryozoan thickets, canyons and kelp forests, all fed by the Murihiku current! Alongside the existing Ōtākou and Moeraki Mātaitati and East Otago Taiāpuri this network represents a model that our wider Aotearoa/NZ can learn from.

We couldn't be prouder of our community in leading the way to enhance, protect and support one another to connect with this landscape!

🦈🐳🦀🦞

Kāi Tahu and DOC have announced Te Au Roa o Te Rakihouia as the nam...

28/05/2026

📣 Over the past couple of months, The Halo Project has been working with the Ben Rudd Trust in Flagstaff to clear tracks for a network of 191 Goodnature A24 traps. The goal is to make the trap lines accessible so the community can service them and support ongoing predator control.

Tracks to over 50 traps have now been cleared, with more work underway in the coming weeks.

We’d love volunteers to join us to help cut tracks and support the Ben Rudd Trust to get the network fully operational.

If you’d like to get involved, please contact [email protected]

27/05/2026

Keen on recycling? Here's where you can take lots of different things!! 😍😍😍

Feel like you should be able to recycle more items than can go into the kerbside collections?

Check out this handy poster 👇♻

26/05/2026

😁 In May, 5 volunteers gave up 2 days to support our quarterly tracking tunnel monitoring. These surveys run overnight under optimal weather conditions.

We monitor across the Halo Project Zero Density area, from Ōtama Kaipapa/Doctors Point to Whareakeake, using lines designed by ecologists, to understand which predators are present.

🐾 This year, mice and hedgehogs were most common — both key predators of lizards. These insights help us target our work and funding where it’s needed most.

We’ll continue these surveys each quarter. If you’d like to be involved, there are limited, low-intensity volunteer opportunities — please contact [email protected].

Our next survey is scheduled for August.

20/05/2026

Check out these pakake/NZ Sea Lion pups playing in their creche! This was a special site for Halo's Predator Free Project Manager Jonah who was working in the area with his possum dog Scout recently!

For the first time in more than 100 years the Otago pakake/New Zealand sea lion population has produced more than 35 pups, which means we're officially on track to breeding colony status!

This species, which is classed as Nationally Endangered, is one of the treasures in this landscape that we are working to support through habitat restoration!

💚👏💚

13/05/2026

Last week, the Government introduced the Conservation Amendment Bill to Parliament.

The Conservation Amendment Bill will modernise how conservation land is managed, support economic growth, and improve environmental outcomes to protect our most precious landscapes and species for generations to come.

Over the next few months, the select committee will seek submissions, and New Zealanders will have the opportunity to provide their feedback.

You can read the Bill on the New Zealand Legislation website here: www.legislation.govt.nz/bill/government/2026/309/en/latest

📷: Trampers along the Milford Track | Graham Dainty

12/05/2026

Ever wondered what about that w**d? Which w**d? Is it a w**d?

Check out w**dbusters! It's a collection of expert information on w**d management from all across Aotearoa!