Birdsong from the Tongan Whistler, also known as the Hengehenga bird can now be heard signaling successful conservation efforts in Tonga from the Vava’u Environmental Protection Association (VEPA).
Formed in 2009 by local community leaders and residents, VEPA is governed by seven members and works with its community to conserve and sustain the natural resources, environment and biodiversity of Tonga for resilient and health communities and future generations.
Tongan Whistler or also known as the Hengehenga bird
One of its activities is to eradicate rats from the native lowland forest area of Mount Talau on Vava’u, a successful undertaking by VEPA Ambassadors and community members. Working to protect endemic species, this has resulted in an amazing comeback of the Hengehenga.
“Working with our Ambassadors and community volunteers, we lay snap traps and bait stations that catch the rats,” said Ms Talita Morley of VEPA.
“We’ve been doing this for over ten years and have seen much improvement – the birds are back and healthy, we hear the birdsong now, and we are trapping four to five rats in our traps per week. This is much less to what was collected years ago.”
Consistency has been key for this activity which began in 2015. Throughout the years VEPA Ambassadors, and Vava’u community members have worked together to strengthen endemic species in the native forest lowlands of Mount Talau. This has seen rat management, pig control and restoration evolve. It’s also been a point of interest for visitors and tourists to Vavau’u spreading awareness of the community conservation efforts undertaken by the committed residents.
Ms Morley is attending the 11th Pacific Islands Conference on Nature Conservation and Protected Areas underway in Noumea, New Caledonia supported by the Pacific Regional Invasive Species Management Support Service (PRISMSS) which is a service designed to facilitate the scaling up of operational management of invasive species in the Pacific. VEPA was also the recipient of the inaugural PRISMSS Restoring Island Resilience award sponsored by Air New Zealand earlier this year.
“Seeing the results of our work has been very rewarding. We work together with our community workers to prepare our rat traps, collect dead rats, record and document all we see – the dedication from our team to continue this has led to valuable outcomes,” said Ms Morley.
“We at VEPA are grateful for all the support we have received, and we’re thankful that our hard work is seeing some real, tangible results. Now we can hear the Hengehenga, and know that this bird has come back in numbers. It’s a good feeling.”
And as for her message for our Pacific youth: “The future of Pacific biodiversity and community resilience rests in their hands,” she said.
“Always ground your scientific training in your ancestral wisdom. Listen deeply to your elders, build trust with your community and ensure their inclusion in invasive species management.”
Source: SPREP
