Feature Story – A special feel about the Kāpiti coast – Kip Brook

Article by Kip Brook, editor of MakeLemonade.nz 

Ōtaki – More New Zealanders should cruise up the old Kapiti coast road, rather than sprint the cool new Te Ara Nui o Te Rangihaeata expressway when heading out of Wellington.

As in the movie There’s Something About Mary, there is something about the Kāpiti coast, including the spiritual heart and soul of Kāpiti Island.

The dichotomy the island faces today is that there is a limited number of tourists allowed to go to the sanctuary, which is appropriate for protecting the abundant wildlife and also for reducing climate change pressures.

Tours to the island, five kilometres over the Rauoterangi Channel, are run by Kāpiti Island Nature Tours. Its chief executive and rangatira is outstanding ex-Ōtaki College student Hone (Johnny) Barrett.

The island is globally acclaimed as an astonishing nature reserve protecting some of the world’s most endangered birds. The 1965-hectare island is one of the few relatively accessible island reserves in the country and is one of New Zealand’s pre-eminent sites for bird recovery.

Kāpiti Island is a mecca for endemic species such as hihi (stitchbird), kōkako, takahē, kororā (little blue penguin), kākā, tui, bellbird, kereru, the kahu, toutouwai, weka, kiwi and others putting the island in a time-warp, what life was like in Aotearoa 300 years ago.

The island is sacred to Aotearoa. A small close knit Māori family run the successful whānau tourist company, Kāpiti Island Nature tours.

Barrett, the co-founder of the company Barrett, former chair of NZ Māori Tourism and in his younger days he was an outstanding and stylish batter for the Ōtaki College cricket 1st XI.

Barrett is Ngāti Raukawa, Te Ati Awa and Ngāti Toarangatira. His grandmother inherited the farm on Kāpiti Island from her father, Wi Parata te Kahakura, and held a kaitiaki role. His whānau are based at the north end of the island.

Barrett wants more Kiwis to experience the sacred feeling of Kāpiti but he is concerned about the climate change footprint impact by more visitors to the island. Tourism clearly impacts on the sanctuary’s natural environment.

“This is the big issue for us today. We already have a limit on the number of daily visitors as part of our DoC concession, which won’t increase. As a business, we are working at pace to convert to lower emissions,” he says.

Electric boats do not require any fuel and very little oil, so they are far less likely to cause any harm to wildlife or water users, making them a great way to significantly reduce water pollution. Electric boats can be run off clean, green energy, such as solar power.

From a climate change perspective, the overall Kāpiti region ‘s biggest emitting sector by far continues to be transport by road and air with emissions generated from petrol, diesel and jet kerosene. This represents 53 percent of the coastal region’s total gross emissions.

In a regional climate change context, Kāpiti is producing eight percent of the Wellington region’s emissions mostly from transport and stationary energy.

The region stretches along 40km of curved coastline, dramatic cliffs and rolling hills crammed with native flora and fauna from Paekākāriki to Ōtaki. The charming towns dotted up the coast have long enticed Wellingtonians wanting to retire from city life.

Back in the 1800s, people referred to taking the sea air, when travelling to Kāpiti. It took a day to thread through the hills from Wellington.  With the Te Ara Nui o Te Rangihaeata expressway racing out of Wellington, the coast is just half an hour’s drive from the capital, which is luring more people wanting to live in the district. The current population is almost 60,000.

More than 22,300 people live in Paraparaumu and Paraparaumu beach, 10,260 in Ōtaki, which has seen the largest growth over the last five years, 11,300 in Raumati and Paekākāriki 13,700 in Waikanae, according to the latest figures from the Kāpiti District Council.

In the aged of climate change and carbon footprints, people living on Kāpiti are in heaven. They may see a small increase in summer; but nothing like the nearly 40 million tourists Thailand was facing before covid. People worldwide need to think about reducing their carbon footprints. New Zealand , mostly needs less tourists, not more.

Kāpiti’s Māori population was listed around 8000 people in the 2018 census. Tangata whenua of the district are Te Āti Awa ki Whakarongotai, Ngāti Raukawa ki te Tonga and Ngāti Toa Rangatira, including their whānau and hapū.

Ōtaki is proudly the oldest bilingual town in Aotearoa. It is also home to Te Wānanga o Raukawa, Aotearoa’s only Māori university, established in 1981.

In the 19th century, the lead figure in Ōtaki was Te Rauparaha, a fearless tribal leader. He lived several times in Ōtaki, mostly after he was released by the government from illegal detention after being locked him up for 18 months without arrest.

He was deposited back to Ōtaki in 1848 to essentially live out his last years before he died in in 1849 at and was buried at the front of  the Rangiātea church grounds.

Te Rauparaha worked with the church missionary society and ensured the land was given to them as he had an enduring relationship with Rev Octavius Hadfield.

The church was the oldest Māori Anglican church in New Zealand before an arsonist burnt it to the ground in 1995. The staggering chapter in the history of the church is that it was rebuilt the old way, all with old tools, so it became an absolute replica of the original building. It is a stunning church today.

Mā te wā

Kip Brook
Editor-in-chief
Make Lemonade

Health News – ‘We have failed our mokopuna’ – Health Coalition Aotearoa

Source: Health Coalition Aotearoa

Health Coalition Aotearoa (HCA) stands in solidarity with the parents’ movement Vape-Free Kids and their petitions calling on the Government to protect children from vaping addiction.
Vape-Free Kids NZ are handing over their petitions to Dr Tracey McLellan, Chair of the Health Select Committee and MP for Banks Peninsula on the steps of Parliament today at 12.30 pm on Wednesday, August 16.
The petitions, launched on March 27 and April 3, call for a ban the sale of vaping products in non-vape store premises such as dairies, supermarkets, and service stations; and improved regulations on Specialist Vape Retailers (SVRs) and have attracted over 12,000 signatures.
In 2017, The Hashtags, a group of rangatahi from Wainuiomata, pleaded with the Māori Affairs Select Committee and the Health Select Committee to protect them from the harm caused by vaping products, to make sure they did not inherit the legacy of nicotine addiction, that past generations inherited through tobacco products.
In 2022, they presented their own petition asking for restrictions on the number of retail outlets that allowed in communities where tamariki and young people lived, educated and played.
HCA Smoke-free Expert Advisory Group member and Regional Manager,Takiri Mai te Ata Regional Stop Smoking Service Whanau Ora Collective Catherine Manning said:
“We as adults have failed to protect our mokopuna, by not learning lessons from the past in keeping products designed to addict their user out of their hands and out of their community.”
Manning said the proliferation of vaping stores has created a nicotine addiction epidemic among tamariki and rangatahi.
“The harm is that we’re going to end up with a population of young people who are having their futures stolen from these vape products because they are being suspended and expelled from schools and unable to learn because they are addicted and craving their next fix of nicotine through the use of vape products.”
Government regulations announced in June this year, aimed at reducing access to vapes and vaping stores by young people, were completely inadequate, Manning said.
A ban on new specialist vape retailers (SVRs) from setting up within 300 kilometres from schools or maraes did not include general vape retailers (GVRs) such as dairies or service stations.
Alarmingly, since the government announced these measures, new SVRs have been approved and set up shop within these exclusion zones prior to new regulations coming into effect at the end of the month.
HCA Smoke-free Expert Panel chair and Hāpai te Hauora national tobacco control manager Leitu Tufuga said the huge response to the petitions and support for Vape-Free Kids NZ demonstrated the severity of vaping harm.
Tufuga said cessation services were spending most of their time responding to harms from vaping addiction, and more funding and resources were urgently needed.
“What we’re seeing on the ground is a tsunami of young people who are addicted to vaping, who have never smoked before, and concerned parents who are struggling with this issue and don’t have the tools to support their young people or protect their tamariki.”

Fashion News – Eight Otago Polytechnic | Te Pūkenga Design graduates prepare for New Zealand Fashion Week

Source: Te Pukenga

Eight Otago Polytechnic | Te Pūkenga Design graduates are set to pack their garment bags for New Zealand Fashion Week later this month.
Bachelor of Design (Fashion) graduates Jonty Blakely, Amelia Phillips, Taylor Pumphrey, Ethan Cruise, Ellen Ross and Russelle Tino will show at the NZFW Graduate Show, to be held at the Viaduct Events Centre, Auckland, on 30 August.
In addition, Francesca Flynn and Sofia Heke will take part in Go Media Miromoda 2023, part of NZFW.
“I’m thrilled to have so many graduates showing at New Zealand Fashion Week,” says Dr Margo Barton, Head of Fashion, Otago Polytechnic | Te Pūkenga.
“I’m really happy to be supporting some of our graduates from 2020, 2021 and 2022. And I’m obviously also thrilled that NZFW is resuming after a Covid-enforced break.”
Previously, only three Otago Polytechnic designers were showcased at NZFW. However, the resumption of the event prompted Dr Barton and her Fashion Design team to make a special request to include more designers, albeit showing fewer outfits.
With the proposal accepted, Dr Barton and her team contacted graduates who had been selected to show at NZFW in 2021 and 2022 to see if they were still interested in being involved in the prestigious event.
“Some were unable to commit because of work or travel. So our shortlist was widened to include students previously selected by an independent panel to show at iD Dunedin’s Railway Show.
“It was difficult to narrow it down to six,” Dr Barton says. “We also recommended two of our top graduates, Sofia Heke (2021-22) and Francesca Flynn (2022), for the Miromoda show. I am delighted they were both selected.”
Since introducing a graduate show in 2016, New Zealand Fashion Week has been a great springboard for many designers.
“The NZFW experience is used for professional development, networking and as a form of portfolio. Crucially, it serves as a platform to reach potential employers,” Dr Barton says.
“The event also offers many benefits for Otago Polytechnic’s School of Fashion” Dr Barton says, adding this includes catching up with former students.
“Fashion at Otago Polytechnic has a long history, and therefore our graduates are at different stages of their fashion careers, including working in varied positions. Learning what our graduates are doing, how they got there and gathering advice for our current and future learners is very important information.
“We invite high schools in Auckland to our NZFW show – as we believe it provides a fantastic opportunity to inspire future fashion learners.”

Health News – Hāpai Te Hauora stands alongside VapefreeNZkids petition calling for stronger actions on youth vaping

Source: Hapai Te Hauora

National Maori Public Health organisation Hāpai Te Hauora stands in support of VapefreeKids NZ who are calling for a stronger approach to protect rangatahi from harmful vaping addiction. They are presenting their Petition today on the steps of parliament.
Interim CEO of Hāpai Te Hauora, Jason Alexander says ‘”as we work towards a Smokefree goal, our tamariki and rangatahi must be protected through the laws we make. Whānau, parents, and school communities are telling us that they feel helpless and frustrated as we see the frenzy of vape retailers setting up business within our communities. Some rushing to set up within close proximity to our schools before new regulations kick in, restricting this.”
The petition has been signed by over 12,000 across the motu calling for a ban on the sale of vaping products in non-vape store premises such as dairies, supermarkets, and service stations; and calls on the government to improve regulations on Specialist Vape Retailers.
Marnie Wilton, co-founder of VapefreekidsNZ says this petition aims to address the unacceptable increase in young people becoming addicted to vapes, negatively affecting their mental, physical and social well-being. By restricting the sale of vapes to specialist stores, access to these products will be limited and the health of young people will be protected. “There is still the potential for unknown long-term health risks associated with vaping,” says Wilton.
The petition comes amid growing concerns from many parents, across public health sector, schools and principals, about the impact of vaping on rangatahi, particularly rangatahi Māori and Pacific.
Hāpai Te Hauora’s Alexander says “Vaping has been a useful tool to support many of our whānau to quit smoking tobacco, however, it it is becoming a growing health issue in Aotearoa, with some rangatahi and even tamariki taking up vaping without fully understanding the risks involved.”
Tobacco Control Advocacy Service Lead for Hāpai Te Hauora, Leitu Tufuga says, “Limiting the sale of vaping products to Specialist Vape Retailers will help to reduce the visibility of vape products from our tamariki and rangatahi, and help to protect them from highly addictive substance. We strongly support the call for further restrictions on the sale of vaping products.”
Hāpai Te Hauora is committed to promoting Māori health and well-being and reducing the impacts of harmful commodities in our communities across Aotearoa. The national campaign Protect Your Breath designed by rangatahi for rangatahi provides kōrero from rangatahi and key information on the impact of vaping.
The petition to restrict vaping will be delivered to the steps of Parliament on the 16th of August, at 1:00 pm, received by MP Tracey McLennan the Chairperson of the Health select committee.

Tech News – Teletrac Navman Debuts IQ Camera; Expands Line of Video Telematics Solutions

Source: Botica Butler Raudon for Teletrac Navman

Fully integrated with Teletrac Navman’s TN360, the IQ Camera gives fleet owners greater visibility and context behind events; provides automated in-cab driver feedback  

AUCKLAND, New Zealand, 16 August, 2023 – Teletrac Navman, the connected mobility platform for industries that manage vehicle and equipment assets, today announces the launch of the IQ Camera, a sophisticated, AI-powered, dual-camera dash cam that is integrated with Teletrac Navman’s TN360 fleet management software to give fleet owners a unified view of their video and telematics data so that they can understand events and be empowered to improve driver safety through informed coaching.  

The fully connected IQ Camera uses powerful sensors and video AI to review every minute of drive time and understand behaviour like never before. Together with TN360, the IQ Camera pulls driver performance data into a single location, giving fleet managers a full view of performance so that they can implement reward programs and identify areas for improvement.  

The launch of the IQ Camera adds to Teletrac Navman’s already robust line of deeply integrated video telematics cameras and is an easy entry point for organisations that operate fleets of commercial vehicles, and that believe in the potential of data to enhance fleet performance and lower risk.  

“The IQ Camera makes it easy for fleets to prioritise safety and protect drivers on the road. This new solution complements the existing range of video telematics offerings, that are all now fully integrated into TN360,” said Mayank Sharma, Head of Global Product Management & UX at Teletrac Navman. “This gives customers the flexibility to choose the ideal camera solution that protects drivers, simplifies safety programs, and streamlines coaching.”  

The IQ camera also allows fleets to be managed in real-time and takes coaching into the cab, with driver assistance and status monitoring. Its built-in Advanced Driver Assistance (ADAS) and Driver Status Monitoring (DSM) features, that include forward collision, tailgating, distracted driving and drowsy driving, provide real-time feedback to drivers so they can make instant improvements.  

This highly configurable dual-camera system provides added understanding of what has occurred with high quality footage before, during and after an event. Video data is automatically uploaded to the TN360 connected platform for immediate viewing so teams can identify high risk actions and provide transparent feedback to their drivers.

“It’s important for fleet owners to take action based on all of their data,” added Sharma. “By incorporating video into training, they can make a positive impact on operational performance and costs.”  

Health and Employment – Allied health workers to rally tonight across Aotearoa for ‘Hour of Power’ calling for urgent action on pay equity

Source: PSA

Tonight at 6pm, Allied health workers with their union – the Public Service Association Te Pūkenga Here Tikanga Mahi, their whānau, and communities, will rally at nine ‘Hour of Power’ events nationwide.
“The Hour of Power is a call for urgent action for Allied health workers to receive pay equity as soon as possible,” says PSA Equal Pay Organiser, Will Matthews. “We are gathering to celebrate the essential work Allied practitioners do, and call for people in Aotearoa to back their pay equity claim.”
Hour of Power rallies will take place in Auckland, Tauranga, Rotorua, Palmerston North, Napier, New Plymouth, Wellington, Christchurch, and Dunedin. Workers will use glow sticks, torches and lights to bring health work that has been made invisible by gender-based undervaluation into the light.
“All of us want our loved ones’ healthcare to be looked after by people who are specialists in their field, and care for all aspects of their wellbeing,” says Matthews.
“But right now, Allied, Public Health, Scientific and Technical workers – 15,000 people in over 100 different professions delivering specialist care and keeping services running – are being underpaid and undervalued.
“The Government has a huge opportunity to make good on their 2020 promise to improve health services for communities, and the lives of the 15,000 health workers by settling the Allied Pay Equity claim as soon as possible. But the claim has been setback by delays which need urgent attention.”
Undervaluation based on Allied health work historically mostly being done by women has been recognised through the pay equity claim. Workers and the union are waiting on delays to milestone reports needed to keep the process moving toward completion.
“Allied workers are often the people your whānau see the most of when loved ones are ill, injured, or recovering. It’s highly specialised work that is critical for optimal care and recovery, but our work isn’t recognised for what it’s worth,” says Annie, a PSA member and Allied dietician.
“We are dietitians making sure people are nourished after a stroke when they can’t swallow. We are clinical engineers servicing life support machines. We are hospital dental assistants supporting patients through daunting procedures.”
“We’re in a cycle of inequity where people who can leave our profession do. People find jobs outside the health system for the same or better pay without the intense stress, risk, and burnout from being overworked and understaffed,” PSA member and Allied Occupational Therapist, Nichola, adds.
“By investing in us, community health gets long term gains with well educated, well-rounded clinicians.” says PSA member and Allied alcohol and other drug clinician, Monique. “Pay equity is about more than just pay. It’s about equitable outcomes for ourselves, our clients, and future generations of health workers.”
Further information:
Hour of Power rallies are tonight, Wednesday 16th of August, from 6pm to 7pm at these locations:
● Auckland: Takutai Square, Britomart
● Tauranga: Night walk around the Mount. Meet at 5:50pm at the Surf Club
● Rotorua: Tutanekai Street. Meet on the lakeside end of Eat Street (cnr. Tutekekai St and Whakaue St)
● Palmerston North: George Street. Meet behind the library
● Napier: Meet at Napier Health Centre for a pink and orange march through the town.
● New Plymouth: Cnr Eliot and Leach Street
● Wellington: Parliament Grounds
● Christchurch: March from hospital to the Bridge of Remembrance. Meet at Hagley Oval carpark at 5:30pm
● Dunedin: Dunedin Museum. Meet on the corner of Great King and Frederick Street by 5:15pm to march, or head to the Museum for 5:45pm
The Allied Health pay equity claim covers 15,000 Allied, Public Health, Scientific, and Technical workers across more than 100 professions. Those professions include pharmacists, psychologists, speech language therapists, anaesthetic technicians, occupational therapists, phlebotomists, and more.

Energy News – Open letter to Energy and Resources spokespeople – Energy and resources organisations

Source: Energy and resources organisations

Dear Energy and Resources spokespeople across the political spectrum
Thank you for addressing us at our Energy and Resources Pre-election Panel event on the 26th of July. We heard about the importance of our energy system and mineral resources to support the wellbeing, productivity, and lifestyles of all New Zealanders, regardless of their aspiration.
Following this event, we present to you our ten-point priority plan on the regulatory and policy environment needed to unlock our country’s social, economic, and environmental wellbeing through energy:
1. Deliver clear and enduring policy settings. The sector needs stable, simple, well-signalled and durable policy settings across electoral cycles. Unclear, short-term policy settings make it harder to bring more energy and resources online and make decarbonisation investments.
2. Embed the ‘Energy Trilemma’ as the organising principle against which energy policies can be assessed. Every sector participant wants to provide energy to consumers that is affordable, reliable, and sustainable, so it can be used productively throughout the economy.
3. Use the right policy portfolio and tools for the right problem. While inevitably overlapping, energy and resources policy and climate change policies have different objectives and problems that require careful analysis and trade-offs to be made.
4. Ensure there is confidence in a complete and robust Emissions Trading Scheme, and let it do the heavy lifting to meet our net zero emissions goal. 
5. Build the resilience of New Zealand’s energy system. A resilient energy system is one with diverse energy types, fuels and locations. The more options we have, the more resilience, the lower emissions, and lower costs we are likely to face. 
6. Encourage competition for competitive prices and customer-centric innovations, rather than heavy-handed regulations. Energy is a means to an end. It is a vital input into a vibrant, productive economy.
7. Ensure we have a planning and resource management system that enables energy generation and mineral assets and other infrastructure to be built in the right place at the right time for the least cost.
8. Stop eliminating options from our energy system. Enable and advance all options for low emissions energy technologies and fuels in New Zealand. Carbon capture and renewable gases, biomass and biofuels can all reduce hard-to-abate emissions. Ensure that regulatory settings allow them to flourish .
9. Recognise the important role that New Zealand’s domestic mineral resources will have in our low-emissions future. Unlock access to our precious and other metals that are so vital to low emissions technology.
10. Upskill our workforce to equip them for the energy sector of the future.
Sincerely,
BusinessNZ Energy Council
Electricity Networks Aotearoa
Electricity Retailers’ Association of New Zealand
Energy Resources Aotearoa
Major Electricity Users’ Group
Young Energy Professionals Network

Population growth rebounds on removal of COVID border restrictions – Stats NZ media and information release: National population estimates: At 30 June 2023

Population growth rebounds on removal of COVID border restrictions – Media release

16 August 2023

New Zealand’s resident population provisionally grew by 2.1 percent (105,900 people) over the preceding 12 months, to reach 5.22 million at 30 June 2023, according to figures released by Stats NZ today.

“Growth of 2.1 percent is a sizeable rebound,” estimates and projections manager Michael MacAskill said.

“New Zealand’s net migration during the June 2023 year was the main driver of population growth over this period.”

Visit our website to read this news story and information release or to download CSV files:

CategoriesMIL-OSITagsMIL OSI

Births and deaths: Year ended June 2023 – Stats NZ information release

Births and deaths: Year ended June 2023 – Information release

16 August 2023

Births and deaths releases provide statistics on the number of births and deaths of people resident in New Zealand that are registered during a given period, along with selected fertility and mortality rates. They may differ from statistics presented elsewhere that relate to all births and deaths registered in New Zealand or to births and deaths occurring during a given period.

Key facts

In the year ended June 2023 compared with the year ended June 2022:

  • 57,534 live births were registered, down from 60,009
  • 38,346 deaths were registered, up from 36,723
  • natural increase (births minus deaths) was 19,185, down from 23,280
  • the total fertility rate was 1.61 births per woman, down from 1.69
  • the infant mortality rate was 3.49 deaths per 1,000 live births, down from 3.85.

Visit our website to read this information release:

CategoriesMIL-OSITagsMIL OSI

Conservation News – Ground-breaking automated species-specific AI traps move closer to commercial production

Source: Predator Free 2050

Potential unwanted impacts to our prized taonga species such as kea and kaka is a critical concern when controlling invasive predators in many parts of Aotearoa. However, this is all set to change.
Field trials are underway on revolutionary predator control traps based on ground-breaking artificial intelligence (AI). The fully automated Critter Solutions Kill Traps trigger only when a target has been identified by AI as a pest species. Importantly, the traps are ultra-low power, self-resetting, and self-luring – designed to be left in the field for long periods without servicing.
Project lead Dr Helen Blackie from Boffa Miskell describes this innovatively designed, next generation of AI traps as the “holy grail for pest eradication and a game-changer, not only for Aotearoa, but worldwide”.
“These traps are the first to be able to effectively ‘think for themselves’ and make a decision as to whether an interacting animal is a target pest species or not. A key technical success has been developing the trap so that it is extremely fast at triggering when an animal is recognised – within a fraction of a second – after detecting the presence of a pest,” Dr Blackie says.
“Importantly, using AI to trigger traps means that the trap design can be far more open, as we’re not trying to stop other species from entering. This makes the trap far more appealing for pests to go into, as we haven’t had the same restraints on design. Traditional traps also require the pest to push, pull or stand on a trigger to activate the trap, which can further reduce catch-rates, by using AI we can do away with manual triggers completely.”
The traps are also able to remotely notify a user that it has triggered and can send a picture of the animal it’s triggered on.
“This is the first time I’ve been able to run a trial from the comfort of my couch,” says Dr Blackie. “We use our AI monitoring cameras trained on the traps which show us the approaching species in real-time, then we get a notification of the trap triggering, which species it was and a further notification that the trap has reset and is ready and waiting for the next animal.”
The traps have already passed requirements for delivering a humane kill for rats, stoats and possums in independent trials. As well as controlling pest species, the device can also be used in a ‘passive’ mode to collect monitoring data on native species.
Critter Solutions Director Kenji Irie says: “We have applied 20 years of animal trapping knowledge and spent five years working on the generation of a robust AI system for this specific idea, and we are now excited to be testing the tool in the field.
“We have enough data from the first field trials already to prove the trap’s effectiveness for possums, which is hugely exciting. Every time the fully automated trap has identified a possum and triggered has resulted in a successful kill. In our first night testing in the field the trap had recognised and killed its first possum within an hour, and then its second a few hours afterwards, highlighting the benefit of the open design of the trap to increase animal interaction rates, which was very exciting for the research team.
Funding from Predator Free 2050 Limited through the Government’s Jobs for Nature initiative in 2021 has helped to speed up the development of this game-changing technology.
Predator Free 2050 Limited’s Professor Dan Tompkins, who leads the Products to Projects portfolio, couldn’t be more pleased with the outcomes of the research and development. “We want to ensure that achieving national eradication of rats, mustelids and possums, the Predator Free 2050 goal, is carried out in the best way possible. Reducing impacts to non-target species is a critical part of that.
“The Predator Free 2050 mission was launched knowing that new tools and approaches would be needed to get the job done, and this is one of many great advances that we are already seeing. The quality of this new trap combined with the speed and accuracy of the AI species identification makes this innovation at its finest.”
An immense amount of work has gone into ensuring the device can reliably identify even small details of non-target species including kea, kaka, weka and kiwis, from thousands of animal interactions with the prototype units.
Critter Solutions Ltd has already started to receive international attention from as far as the United Kingdom where there has been no control tool that can easily distinguish a native red squirrel from the introduced grey squirrel (red squirrels are at risk of local extinction due to the grey invasion).
The Critter Solutions Species Specific Kill Trap is expected to be ready for sale by late 2024.
Background
New Zealand based Critter Solutions Ltd, a collaboration between Boffa Miskell and Red Fern Solutions, is leading the way when it comes to artificially intelligent pest control tools. The revolutionary trap will be a cost-effective, intelligent trap for possums, rats, and stoats, based on proven CritterPic® imaging technology with real-time species identification. The use of onboard AI has allowed trap design to significantly change, with an open architectural design maximising animal interaction without the need for tunnels or baffles to restrict non-target animal entry.
Although there are AI traps currently available, most use Cloud technology which relies on the information being relayed from the trap to the Cloud, with the animal being held until a decision is made. The AI on this trap makes a decision on-board the unit in a fraction of a second, triggering the trap when the species is a target of interest and positioned within the trap’s kill zone.
Throughout the design and implementation process high animal welfare has been a top priority. Where other traps require high interaction from the animal such as stepping on a plate or biting a bar (which can lead to unfavourable positioning of the animal within the mechanism), the Critter Solutions AI trap identifies the animal and then it need only put its head into the trap before it is activated.