Rotorua Canopy Tours in conjunction with the Tourism Industry Association and the Department of Conservation, have successfully dispatched 123 rats, six possums and 11 mice this week as part of their TRENZ pest trapping programme.

TRENZ is New Zealand's largest annual tourism and travel conference, with a crowd of over 1100 people made of sellers, buyers and media attending this year in Rotorua to share the latest in the tourism industry.

On Monday, TRENZ delegates were invited to come and participate in a trap layout in the 5ha of forest near the Mamaku township. Recent monitoring work in the forest showed signs of significant rat activity and identified the presence of possums.

Over 20 delegates came to participate in the trapping, leading to over 100 rat and possum traps being set throughout the forest. The resulting 140 total pests trapped so far is a result that Canopy Tours General Manager, Paul Button, is ecstatic about.

'We were really stoked day after day as we cleared the trap lines to see the incredible result of 140 pests removed from the Mamaku forest,” says Paul.

'This trapping programme was such a success, and we're really happy that the TRENZ delegates were so keen to get involved and make a positive lasting difference here in Rotorua.”

Canopy Tours will continue to administer the trap line after TRENZ is finished, by integrating it into their regular conservation programme in the Dansey Road Scenic Reserve where their award-winning tours are located.

'We're finding that the rats are eating all of the possum bait, so we're going to keep clearing the traps every day until the daily rats caught number drops,” says Paul.

'Once the rat numbers settle down, we'll be able to get the possums out and have a better sense of the overall health of the forest.”

The trapping programme has been implemented as part of TRENZ this year to demonstrate to tourism representatives that there's significance and value to participating in conservation activities, especially in the tourism industry.

'Rats and possums are incredibly harmful to native flora and fauna, and forests without any form of pest control are often low in bird life and suffer from effects of possum browse,” says Paul.

'Many of New Zealand's best tourist activities are set in amongst our natural landscapes, and it's important for tourism representatives to contribute back to New Zealand's fragile environment.”

The team at Rotorua Canopy Tours have been maintaining extensive trapping efforts for years in the Dansey Road Scenic Reserve in which their Canopy Tours experiences are located. In the early days of the Canopy Tours business, the team began trapping with great results.

Thousands of pests have been removed from the Dansey Road Scenic Reserve, and wildlife in the forest is flourishing. In recent years, numerous native bird species have been recorded as flocking back to the forest, and the native flora is also regenerating. Even a rare striped skink was spotted in the forest, a sign that it is healthy.

'We're confident that by maintaining the trap network in this new section of forest, we're ensuring that it'll be a great natural resource for future generations to enjoy,” says Paul.

'The birdsong in there will be deafening.”