Pest Free Me is a collective movement working towards a thriving, pest-free Mahurangi East Peninsula.
After islands, peninsulas rank as the next key prospects for pest-free initiatives, with their coastal boundaries reducing the chance of reinvasion.
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Mahurangi East, with around 6,000 permanent residents and rapid urbanization, encounters both challenges and opportunities in its efforts to eradicate pests.
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Pest Free Mahurangi East promotes a cooperative strategy by partnering with other local pest-free projects, addressing gaps, and providing training and coordination.
About
Emerging from RRE-led community discussions and collaboration across the peninsula, Pest Free Mahurangi East (PFME) was created to connect and strengthen local pest control efforts. What began as a shared vision has grown into a coordinated movement working towards a healthier, more resilient Mahurangi East.
Pest Free Mahurangi East brings together residents, landowners, schools, iwi, and local groups to coordinate trapping, monitoring, and habitat restoration across multiple properties. This collaborative approach enhances biodiversity and strengthens ecological resilience.
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PFME empowers the community through hands-on participation and training, helping people take care of their local environment. Each year, dozens of groups and thousands of residents, including young people and mana whenua, get involved. The programme supports nearby sanctuaries and islands and shows how working together can make a real difference for nature.
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A NEW TRAPLINE — THE POWER OF NETWORKING
Waimana Point, the headland between Algies Bay and Goldsworthy Bay, is one of the most significant geographical points on the Mahurangi East Peninsula. And thanks to a conversation at the Warkworth A&P Show, it’s about to become even more important for predator control.
One of the landowners approached the PFME team to ask about getting traps onto their properties. We’ve since visited, walked the land, and now have permission to install traps across six adjoining properties they own or manage.
The aerial image shows the proposed layout, with traps spaced at roughly 80 metres. The plan includes:
• 4 bait stations
• 4 DOC 200s
• 1 Flipping Timmy
• 4 AT220s
Given the coastal edge and a stream corridor, it is going to be very interesting to see what turns up in the early stages due to the natural “funnelling” effect of the terrain. These features act like natural highways for predators, and this new trapline will be perfectly positioned to intercept them.
This is a great example of how a single conversation can strengthen the wider predator‑control network across Mahurangi East.
If you’d like to be part of this work, whether checking traps, helping with lines, or supporting the project in other ways, we’d love to have you involved. Every volunteer strengthens the effort to make Mahurangi East predator free. Get in touch and join the movement.
PFME Area Map
