Lake Heron Conservation Group
The Lake Heron Conservation Group was established to provide a safe breeding haven for waterfowl on Lake Heron. It was initiated by the local community in early 2010 after people became concerned about the high pest numbers in the area, and decided to give back something to an environment they gain a great deal of pleasure in.
There are currently 110 traps set around the lake margin, and the group is trapping high numbers of ferrets and stoats, as well as feral cats, rats, weasels and hedgehogs.
Wildlife
Lake Heron view
Lake Heron is an internationally important wildlife habitat, reflected by its status as a wildlife refuge and nature reserve. It's claimed to have the largest and most significant bird populations of any high country lake. Lake Heron was once a hotspot for kāmana / Australasian crested grebe, but the local population has declined over the past 30 years.
The lake also has nationally significant populations of Australasian coot and New Zealand scaup/pāpango as well as good numbers of New Zealand shoveller, grey teal/tete, black swan, the nationally endangered bittern/matuku and marsh crake/koitareke - in fact over 50 species of bird have been recorded at Lake Heron.
How you can help
The traps are checked on a fortnightly basis. If you would like to be on the trapping roster or lend a helping hand with tasks such as shooting rabbits for bait, please contact Ross at ross@sarinz.com.
If you would like to assist with bird counts, predator monitoring, or planting, please contact DOC Raukapuka Area Office.