Years of dedicated pest control by Rotorua Canopy Tours is paying off in nearby forests with residents in Mamaku and Paradise Valley reporting increased birdlife in recent years.

Rotorua Canopy Tours operates its tourist attraction in the Dansey Road Scenic Reserve and has been controlling pests in the forest since 2013.

It's efforts have led to a "feeder forest" effect, says veteran Department of Conservation (DoC) manager and former chairman of the National Wetlands Trust, Tony Roxburgh, who recently visited Canopy Tours to review the conservation project.

He says the Dansey Rd native forest is a shining example of a robust, functional partnership between tourism and conservation, and the flow-on "feeder" effect is proving valuable for other patches of native bush nearby.

'The Dansey Road Scenic Reserve is unique in that it was never felled, logged or farmed, so it has retained much of its original ancient forest structures which our native bird species rely on to thrive,” says Tony.

'From the tour, I saw the regeneration of rata trees, a large amount of fruit and no sign of pests, indicating a very well-managed conservation project.

"The flow on effect of this means we can certainly see increased birdlife in other forests nearby.”

Tony has dedicated decades of his life to biodiversity, threatened species management, and community-based conservation projects across Aotearoa.

The Rotorua Canopy Tours team are honoured to receive Tony's endorsement after eight years of conservation and species protection work in the forest.

Paul Button, General Manager of Rotorua Canopy Tours, is grateful to receive this endorsement of his team's conservation work from a renowned external expert.

'It's hugely gratifying to host Tony and to hear his praise of our mahi on the ground here in Dansey Rd,” says Paul.

'He's a true-blue expert and has been a key player in many local conservation projects such as Lake Rotopiko and Maungatautari.

"Our team are so proud of their mahi over the past eight years so receiving this stamp of approval means the world to us.”

Paul says local guests have commented they have seen an increase in birdlife in Mamaku and Paradise Valley following the extensive pest control project in Dansey Rd.

'We have locals on tour all the time commenting on how they've seen karearea (NZ Falcon) in their area for the first time in decades or were followed through the native forestry near their house by a toutouwai (North Island Robin) which is amazing,” says Paul.

'Our initial goal was to create the most celebrated forest in New Zealand, and this is an amazing flow-on effect from what we set out to achieve.

"Locals now get to enjoy wildlife in their own backyard.”

Sightings of a broad range of native and endemic species have been attributed to the flourishing ecosystem in Dansey Rd Scenic Reserve forest.

The 1000-year-old forest is protected by over 600 automatic Goodnature traps spread over 220 hectares.

'It's clear that possum numbers are very low,” says Tony.

'The fact that the team are seeing more and more native birds in the forest indicates a very low residual population of these pests.

"They are staying and breeding in the Dansey Rd forest due to a lack of predators. There is no reason why endangered birds such as the North Island kōkako can't be introduced here in the future provided the pest control continues."

Recent external pest monitoring data from the Dansey Rd forest show rat numbers are currently at 16 per cent and possums at an extraordinarily low 3 per cent.

Non-treatment sites are tracking rats at a 90 per cent average after last year's 'mega-mast' event.

DoC guidelines aim to get possums below the 5 per cent mark.

Tony says the conservation project is admirable and he hopes to see similar tourism-conservation partnerships succeed in their aims to protect natural taonga such as the Dansey Rd Scenic Reserve.

He stresses that education, understanding and experiencing a pristine environment are key elements in upholding conservation practice all over Aotearoa.

'By linking together their incredible zip-lining tour and conservation success, the Rotorua Canopy Tours team are ensuring the kids have the knowledge they need to protect native species – ten, twenty, fifty, one hundred years in the future.”