March 16, 2026 • 22 mins
It all started with 888-acres of retired farmland in East Taranaki when Miranda Wells, her partner Daryl Egarr, and brother Bjorn Doherty purchased this land in 2013 as a weekend hunting spot.
But the discovery of wild kiwi changed the trajectory of their lives and this land. Together, they formed the 800-Trust which has an ambitious mission to restore a dying forest and create a biodiversity corridor for some of our rarest indigenous species. The introduction of AI-powered technology, Hark, is revolutionising how they are accomplishing this mission, and could make a huge difference to conservation efforts in the future.
Joining the conversation is Miranda Wells of the 800 Trust.
Read more about the 800 Trust in our latest edition of Rural Diary.
Learn more about Hark and the 800 Trust, visit here.
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Episode Transcript
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(00:10):
Welcome to the Blue Shed Diary, a podcast for farmers and
growers and the rural communities in which they live.
I'm podcast producer Caroline Berner.
Our next guest, Miranda Wells ofthe 800 Trust, has an incredible
and ambitious mission to transform acres of retired
farmland in East Taranaki into athriving native forest and
(00:30):
biodiversity corridor for some of our rarest indigenous
species. It all began when Miranda Wells,
her partner Daryl Eager, and herbrother Bjorn Darty purchased
888 acres for weekend hunting spot in 2013.
But the discovery of wild Kiwi changed the trajectory of their
lives and the land, plus the introduction of technology has
(00:54):
forever changed how they accomplished this mission.
Joining the conversation is Miranda Wells at the 800 Trust.
Welcome, Miranda. Thank you, really nice to be
here. Could you have imagined that
when you bought a hunting spot that it would completely change
your. Life well over a decade ago, I
think it was in 2013, and we were on a, on a mission to find
(01:17):
sort of like a Bush block, potentially a hunting block.
And yeah, we, we stumbled acrossthis block that was 888 acres.
And yeah, we discovered that there was Kiwi in there.
And that really got us very excited.
And we started to think about how Kiwi are disappearing in the
(01:38):
farmlands and, and the Bush setting and how we might go
about and protect them. And as a result, we were able to
purchase a bit more land. Some of it was farming land.
And yeah, that's where the the journey started.
How long before had you owned the land before you discovered
Kiwi were were living in there? Probably, probably only sort of
(02:03):
about six months, yeah. We started to see these little
prod holes and we thought, ohh, is that Kiwi?
And we, we took a few photos andasked some people and it was,
and that was, yeah, pretty exciting.
We have, as a as a country, we've lost a significant amount
of our Kiwi population because Ithink in the wild only 5% of
(02:28):
baby chicks survive and that's because of ferrets and stoats.
And so a lot of people might hear Kiwi at night, but it's
quite possibly it's the adult Kiwi and it's unable to
reproduce. So there are farmers out there
that have said that they heard that, that they always heard
Kiwi and now they're they're disappearing.
(02:50):
It's because we're we're not able to give the Kiwi a safe
space to reproduce. And so we're just hearing the
the last ones. The area near land is considered
part of a dying forest. What is a dying forest and how
are you working to restore that?Yes, we're right up against the,
(03:10):
the White Totra Conservation Area and the Taranaki Regional
Council recently defined it as adying forest.
And the reason for that is the, the under floor.
So, you know, the forest floor that's currently being eaten,
any, any new growth is being eaten by goats, pigs are
uprooting operating the ground. So that little seedlings that do
(03:33):
it, that are trying, you know, they, they basically die.
And then there is the audio that's coming through grazing as
well. And then up in the canopy, we
have the new growthers. That's where the possums are
eating it all. And so as a result, there's no
New Forest coming through. And so that the old forest will
(03:55):
eventually start to collapse. And that sort of one of the ways
of how you can Class A dying forest.
So yeah, if you, if you go walking anywhere and you can't
see small trees or small seedlings or trees that, you
know, 10 years old, you are walking in into a dying forest
because you do have to think about the next generation 1.
(04:17):
Of the things that you guys are doing on your land, is restoring
some of that forest by replanting with native
seedlings. How much work does that take and
how far have you gotten in the time that you've been planting?
Over the last few years we've been planting more and more.
I think in the first year we planted maybe 400 natives and
that was, that was quite a learning experience because if
(04:40):
that first year, you can't just necessarily walk away, you need
to find ways to mitigate the grass.
And so that might be putting a weed mat around it or it might
be releasing it or spraying around it.
But there's definitely lots of different techniques.
And so we've gone from planting 400 plants a season.
(05:01):
This year we planted 28,000 natives and and that's things
like totra, the cabbage trees, etcetera.
And these areas that really isn't that suitable for farming.
It's that marginal land and yeah, it's, um, you're making a
big difference. It's, it's challenging to plant
(05:22):
at that scale, but our, our secret weapon is community.
So, you know, there's lots of people out there that want to
support what you're doing. And when you engage with
community, you can often get lots of people coming out and
helping you. So as an individual, as a
farmer, that can be just be, youknow, impossible to do, but
(05:44):
engage your community and it andit changes what's possible.
How many more trees do you estimate that you need to plant?
Or will this be a forever? Project, it probably will be a
forever project, but this year we've scaled back planting so
that we can look after those that mess planting that we did
last year and and also we're working on some technology.
(06:09):
So that's our focus this year. So this year we're only planning
5000, which sounds like a lot and it is a lot, but when you
have mini hands, light work. Have you seen a transformation
not just from the trees, but in the biodiversity on the land you
know? Have you seen greater birdsong
or other animals or plant life coming back?
(06:32):
Yeah, absolutely. That's where some of the rewards
start to occur because as a landowner, you're responsible
for that land. So if you see that the residents
that they're living there, the birds and the insects that
they're thriving, the goods of buzz feel and you're doing your
(06:56):
part for, for nature. But for us, I remember just
recently a farmer that used to farm the Syria in the 90s, he
said that there was never Fern birds.
And now that we have Fern birds all along the, the waterways and
Fern birds are quite a bit, quite a rare native bird that
(07:18):
need clean waterways and sort ofswampy areas.
So I guess you things like that are, you know, a good pet on the
back that you must be doing something right when indicated
species like that start showing up.
Technology has played a huge part in your approach with
cameras monitoring the landscape.
You know what difference does this made?
(07:40):
It's been quite a massive part of what we've been doing.
So we actually have two full time ranges that trap the area
that we do and how we spoke about just before that, the
Waitotara Conservation area being a dying forest.
So part of our mitigation is that we've we're actually
(08:01):
shooting in there. We're shooting the goats and as
farmers know, goats consume a lot of grass and we're also
trapping the the possums. But yeah, at the same time we're
using technology. So, you know, we're putting
those game cameras out to see what's going on.
(08:21):
And I think if anybody put a game camera out, they would be
surprised at how many feral catsare in their on their property,
on their farm, and how many possums there are going through
and how many hedgehogs. It's quite mind blowing.
So I think having cameras out isa really effective tool for any
individual who owns land to understand what's going on in
(08:45):
your environment. This cold toes coming out, cool
trapping tools like this. It's called the at 2:20, it's a
possum trap and it automaticallyresets itself.
So, you know, for busy farmers, they don't have time to go out
at the end of the well, not always have time to go out at
(09:06):
the end of the day and go to looking for possums.
Whereas this trap, you just put it on a put it on a tree on an
area where you know the possums are coming from and it will
automatically reset itself when it catches a possum and it the
possum just drops out and it's, it's all humane.
So that's really cool. And then for ourselves, we have
(09:26):
been thinking about how do we know when, when things are doing
well? So, you know, listening to to
the bird song, listening to the piece, so listening to the
possum cackling. And wouldn't it be cool to be
able to have some sort of indication in real time where
(09:47):
there's a possum or maybe there's a peg out right now
because you can hear it snortingUm, and so we have been working
on this technology called Hark, so HARK and if you wanted to
look it up, it's HRK dot NZ and it basically listens 24/7 and
(10:09):
it's analysing what it's hearingon the device and that data is
sent up the call council sent upinto the cloud.
And what's really cool about this is it's a way of helping
anybody monitor their land and celebrate what they're doing.
(10:31):
So I know that there's lots of farmers out there that do such a
good job of, of caretaking for their land and hear that, but
still can get criticism. But this is a cool way of having
those harks out there listening 24/7.
And it's reporting over years. So, you know, you don't have to
bring this back in. And it's got the temperature,
(10:52):
humidity and biometric pressure.And so you start to sort of
learn what's going on in your own property.
So you go, ohh, look, this bird turns up in October and ohh,
look, we seem to be getting always possums coming out into
this area in September. Ohh, right.
Well, maybe I need to deploy more traps in September to try
(11:14):
and get on top of these possums.And yeah, so we're still quite
early in the technology, but we've got them deployed with
councils, with Department of Conservation.
And yeah, hopefully it's going to be a bit of a game changer
for for our environment so that we understand what's going on
(11:36):
because there's lots of forests where it's just silent that
there's no, there's nothing out there listening to.
Let us know how fast the declineis going on.
And as a country we have our environment is really important
to us. So I think it's something like
27% of our GDP is produced as a result of nature.
(12:02):
So that's that's like horticulture, that's farming.
And so there's a real need for us to look after their asset.
New Zealand is one of the most biodiverse countries in the
world. There's some 4000 native species
here, a large proportion of the birds.
And I would reckon that not everybody could actually say,
(12:23):
ohh, that's what that bird sounds like, or this is what
this sounds like, you know? But I identify them by sound.
But Hark actually uses technology to determine what
type of bird it is, as well as just there's.
There's activity here, correct? Yeah, absolutely.
Yeah, as a country we are reallylucky to have such a massive
(12:46):
amount of biodiversity. But sadly, the other thing is,
is that I think we've got the greatest biodiversity loss in
the world and very. True.
Yes. So it's really important that as
individuals, as landowners, thatwe do our part to protect our
biodiversity, but also celebratewhat we have.
(13:07):
And so we're hoping that Heart can actually help all of us know
what we've got and, and yeah, Heart can identify all the
different bird species in real time.
And So what happens with the Heart platform is you can
actually go in there and select what AI models you want.
(13:29):
So you could say, I want the possum model, I want the rat
model, I want all the bird models.
And then in the future, we'll have additional models for that,
say accounts, one of the councils in New Zealand, they're
keen to have a model for deer. And so, you know, when a deer is
(13:49):
in the area, they want to know. And that could be something
that's beneficial to farmers or that say been kettler distressed
and they might be doing a lot more moooing into giving the
alert in real time that something's going on.
Or if there's a dog barking and you know, ohh, there shouldn't
be a dog here to give an alert for that in real time.
(14:12):
So yeah, there's some really cool applications for Hark in
terms of understanding our biodiversity, celebrating our
biodiversity and learning what birds we have on our on our
property, on your on piece of land.
But also, there could be other beneficial benefits for Hark.
Are there other places where this could work in the city
(14:35):
perhaps even? Or is there just too much
happening on a regular basis forit to work it work it's magic?
It could work in the city, but there's probably the cool thing
about this that makes it different is that like in the
city, you could possibly just plug something in and use power,
use the grid power, whereas thisis something that can go
(14:59):
anywhere in any remote setting. So that's what we've really
designed it for is because we'vegot a solar panel on it.
We've got some really fancy batteries that will last with
solar panel charging the batteries, you know, 10 years.
So you put the spark out there and you basically walk away and
you can just log on and see what's going on and you can say
(15:21):
I would like alerts for this andthis and this.
And yeah, that's what's really cool about it.
And then we hope that overtime will actually learn other sort
of technology that we can apply that will empower the user.
So whether it's empowering the farmer or whether it's
(15:41):
empowering the conservationist. So that could be things like
trap sensors. So having some cheap trap
sensors that will talk to the heart to say, oh, this traps
just gone off. So let's say a live cage trap
because you're trying to catch aa really clever feral cat who's.
Behind the technology, Who are you working with to create this?
(16:01):
Yes, so I'm very fortunate that my brother Bjorn who works for
Google is, has been doing this in all his spare time.
So he's been, he's given 10s tens of thousands of hours to
invest in this because he, like most New Zealanders, care about
(16:21):
our native birds and care about our environment.
And yeah, this is 1 little part that we can play to help help
our environment. And we also are a strong
believer in that predator free 2050 mission.
And we know that technology is is key to getting there.
If someone, one of our listenerswas listening to this and
(16:43):
thought, hey, I wouldn't mind a little heart on my land and how
do they go about getting something for themselves?
Ah yes, so they could jump on our website, HARK dot NZ, so
hark dot NZ and have a little look and then put their name
down for to be notified when it's available to everybody.
(17:04):
So at the moment it's just sort of available to some councils
and some conservation groups while we make sure that we that
this heart device is perfect before it goes out to everybody
that's keen to monitor their property and celebrate the cool
things about their property and also be part of the printed
(17:27):
32050 mission. And that's remove the pieces so
that you know that the birds aren't in competition, the grass
isn't being eaten by pests, and um, yeah, we have got a
beautiful, thriving environment.I'm sure there's many out there
listening that have land on their farm that isn't being used
(17:48):
and could be returned to native Bush or wetland, but have no
idea how to begin. What advice would you give?
Farmers are our, you know, one of our biggest landowners,
aren't they? And without them on board, yeah,
it's going to be a challenge. Farmers that want to do a little
bit more, um, things, little pieces of advice I would say is
(18:10):
that, you know, wetlands are a critical.
So, you know, in those zones where it's a bit boggy, if, if
they can fence it off, that would be fantastic because we
just don't have enough wetlands.And so our native bitten, we've
only got less than 1000 of them.And part of the problem with the
2 problems is that they don't have wetlands and they don't
(18:32):
have is not enough to control. So, you know, it's, it's maybe
thinking about those white lineslike, ohh, yeah, that's swamp.
You know, I let the kettle and it always makes a big mess.
Maybe it's just fencing that offand, you know, getting a few
plants in there. And then I know that there's
plenty of farms that have where the kettle maybe graze and a
(18:56):
small patch of Bush. And if you go in there and you
think, Gee, there's actually no,there's no new seedlings coming
up and there would be a prime piece of land to just fence off.
And maybe they can still get around.
They can go hard up against to the first trees to get into the
shade because shade is quite important, especially with
temperatures rising and summer. And then, yeah, I think about
(19:22):
little steps to pest control. So whether that's buying one of
those a 2220 traps or whether it's getting a few rat traps or
a few DOC 200 traps and just starting on that journey.
And yeah, and maybe just sort oflistening and looking a little
bit more and putting your name down for a heart device for the
(19:46):
future so you can learn what's in your backyard, in your in
your farm. I think that's fantastic advice
because it's one of those thingswhere it's not enough just to to
kill the pests, which are actually bringing in problems
for the farmers as well. You know, cats have diseases
like toxoplasmosis and then ratsalso carry diseases.
But then you also are restoring.It's not just enough to have the
(20:09):
pest control, but you also have to the restoration side of it
too. Because like you said, without
a, a wetland, you're not going to get those patterns.
So it's a mix of the two. And what has been the biggest
lesson that you've had in the time that you guys have been
doing both the pest control and the restoration?
I think it's trying to not do italone.
(20:31):
So, you know, maybe it's talkingto a neighbor or having a bit of
community support because sometimes, you know, if you're
just doing it quietly by yourself, it can be it can be a
bit overwhelming at times. So, you know, last year how we
had one of those storm events and that storm went right
through one of one of the areas that we had planted.
(20:52):
And it, gosh, I felt pretty overwhelmed in that moment.
But having a few people to call on to come and help, you know,
just get some of those trees standing up again.
We didn't actually lose that many at the time, thank
goodness. But, you know, all our bamboo
stakes were lying on the ground.Our tree guards were flesh.
And yeah, I think not putting that pressure on yourself to do
(21:15):
everything. But actually involving
community, involving family and having, having the neighbors
support you, encourage you, yeah, that that's really
important, I think. Well, thank you so much.
Miranda, I appreciate. It and until next time.
Yeah, until next time. Thank you for listening to
(21:36):
Blusha Diary, a PG writes in podcast.
If you're keen to learn more about the 800 Trust and their
incredible work and how you can get involved, we have more
information in our show notes. If you're enjoying our show, be
sure to listen and subscribe, plus tell a friend or five.
Until next time, I'm Caroline Burner.
See you then.
Welcome to the Blue Shed Diary, a podcast for farmers and
growers and the rural communities in which they live.
I'm podcast producer Caroline Berner.
Our next guest, Miranda Wells ofthe 800 Trust, has an incredible
and ambitious mission to transform acres of retired
farmland in East Taranaki into athriving native forest and
(00:30):
biodiversity corridor for some of our rarest indigenous
species. It all began when Miranda Wells,
her partner Daryl Eager, and herbrother Bjorn Darty purchased
888 acres for weekend hunting spot in 2013.
But the discovery of wild Kiwi changed the trajectory of their
lives and the land, plus the introduction of technology has
(00:54):
forever changed how they accomplished this mission.
Joining the conversation is Miranda Wells at the 800 Trust.
Welcome, Miranda. Thank you, really nice to be
here. Could you have imagined that
when you bought a hunting spot that it would completely change
your. Life well over a decade ago, I
think it was in 2013, and we were on a, on a mission to find
(01:17):
sort of like a Bush block, potentially a hunting block.
And yeah, we, we stumbled acrossthis block that was 888 acres.
And yeah, we discovered that there was Kiwi in there.
And that really got us very excited.
And we started to think about how Kiwi are disappearing in the
(01:38):
farmlands and, and the Bush setting and how we might go
about and protect them. And as a result, we were able to
purchase a bit more land. Some of it was farming land.
And yeah, that's where the the journey started.
How long before had you owned the land before you discovered
Kiwi were were living in there? Probably, probably only sort of
(02:03):
about six months, yeah. We started to see these little
prod holes and we thought, ohh, is that Kiwi?
And we, we took a few photos andasked some people and it was,
and that was, yeah, pretty exciting.
We have, as a as a country, we've lost a significant amount
of our Kiwi population because Ithink in the wild only 5% of
(02:28):
baby chicks survive and that's because of ferrets and stoats.
And so a lot of people might hear Kiwi at night, but it's
quite possibly it's the adult Kiwi and it's unable to
reproduce. So there are farmers out there
that have said that they heard that, that they always heard
Kiwi and now they're they're disappearing.
(02:50):
It's because we're we're not able to give the Kiwi a safe
space to reproduce. And so we're just hearing the
the last ones. The area near land is considered
part of a dying forest. What is a dying forest and how
are you working to restore that?Yes, we're right up against the,
(03:10):
the White Totra Conservation Area and the Taranaki Regional
Council recently defined it as adying forest.
And the reason for that is the, the under floor.
So, you know, the forest floor that's currently being eaten,
any, any new growth is being eaten by goats, pigs are
uprooting operating the ground. So that little seedlings that do
(03:33):
it, that are trying, you know, they, they basically die.
And then there is the audio that's coming through grazing as
well. And then up in the canopy, we
have the new growthers. That's where the possums are
eating it all. And so as a result, there's no
New Forest coming through. And so that the old forest will
(03:55):
eventually start to collapse. And that sort of one of the ways
of how you can Class A dying forest.
So yeah, if you, if you go walking anywhere and you can't
see small trees or small seedlings or trees that, you
know, 10 years old, you are walking in into a dying forest
because you do have to think about the next generation 1.
(04:17):
Of the things that you guys are doing on your land, is restoring
some of that forest by replanting with native
seedlings. How much work does that take and
how far have you gotten in the time that you've been planting?
Over the last few years we've been planting more and more.
I think in the first year we planted maybe 400 natives and
that was, that was quite a learning experience because if
(04:40):
that first year, you can't just necessarily walk away, you need
to find ways to mitigate the grass.
And so that might be putting a weed mat around it or it might
be releasing it or spraying around it.
But there's definitely lots of different techniques.
And so we've gone from planting 400 plants a season.
(05:01):
This year we planted 28,000 natives and and that's things
like totra, the cabbage trees, etcetera.
And these areas that really isn't that suitable for farming.
It's that marginal land and yeah, it's, um, you're making a
big difference. It's, it's challenging to plant
(05:22):
at that scale, but our, our secret weapon is community.
So, you know, there's lots of people out there that want to
support what you're doing. And when you engage with
community, you can often get lots of people coming out and
helping you. So as an individual, as a
farmer, that can be just be, youknow, impossible to do, but
(05:44):
engage your community and it andit changes what's possible.
How many more trees do you estimate that you need to plant?
Or will this be a forever? Project, it probably will be a
forever project, but this year we've scaled back planting so
that we can look after those that mess planting that we did
last year and and also we're working on some technology.
(06:09):
So that's our focus this year. So this year we're only planning
5000, which sounds like a lot and it is a lot, but when you
have mini hands, light work. Have you seen a transformation
not just from the trees, but in the biodiversity on the land you
know? Have you seen greater birdsong
or other animals or plant life coming back?
(06:32):
Yeah, absolutely. That's where some of the rewards
start to occur because as a landowner, you're responsible
for that land. So if you see that the residents
that they're living there, the birds and the insects that
they're thriving, the goods of buzz feel and you're doing your
(06:56):
part for, for nature. But for us, I remember just
recently a farmer that used to farm the Syria in the 90s, he
said that there was never Fern birds.
And now that we have Fern birds all along the, the waterways and
Fern birds are quite a bit, quite a rare native bird that
(07:18):
need clean waterways and sort ofswampy areas.
So I guess you things like that are, you know, a good pet on the
back that you must be doing something right when indicated
species like that start showing up.
Technology has played a huge part in your approach with
cameras monitoring the landscape.
You know what difference does this made?
(07:40):
It's been quite a massive part of what we've been doing.
So we actually have two full time ranges that trap the area
that we do and how we spoke about just before that, the
Waitotara Conservation area being a dying forest.
So part of our mitigation is that we've we're actually
(08:01):
shooting in there. We're shooting the goats and as
farmers know, goats consume a lot of grass and we're also
trapping the the possums. But yeah, at the same time we're
using technology. So, you know, we're putting
those game cameras out to see what's going on.
(08:21):
And I think if anybody put a game camera out, they would be
surprised at how many feral catsare in their on their property,
on their farm, and how many possums there are going through
and how many hedgehogs. It's quite mind blowing.
So I think having cameras out isa really effective tool for any
individual who owns land to understand what's going on in
(08:45):
your environment. This cold toes coming out, cool
trapping tools like this. It's called the at 2:20, it's a
possum trap and it automaticallyresets itself.
So, you know, for busy farmers, they don't have time to go out
at the end of the well, not always have time to go out at
(09:06):
the end of the day and go to looking for possums.
Whereas this trap, you just put it on a put it on a tree on an
area where you know the possums are coming from and it will
automatically reset itself when it catches a possum and it the
possum just drops out and it's, it's all humane.
So that's really cool. And then for ourselves, we have
(09:26):
been thinking about how do we know when, when things are doing
well? So, you know, listening to to
the bird song, listening to the piece, so listening to the
possum cackling. And wouldn't it be cool to be
able to have some sort of indication in real time where
(09:47):
there's a possum or maybe there's a peg out right now
because you can hear it snortingUm, and so we have been working
on this technology called Hark, so HARK and if you wanted to
look it up, it's HRK dot NZ and it basically listens 24/7 and
(10:09):
it's analysing what it's hearingon the device and that data is
sent up the call council sent upinto the cloud.
And what's really cool about this is it's a way of helping
anybody monitor their land and celebrate what they're doing.
(10:31):
So I know that there's lots of farmers out there that do such a
good job of, of caretaking for their land and hear that, but
still can get criticism. But this is a cool way of having
those harks out there listening 24/7.
And it's reporting over years. So, you know, you don't have to
bring this back in. And it's got the temperature,
(10:52):
humidity and biometric pressure.And so you start to sort of
learn what's going on in your own property.
So you go, ohh, look, this bird turns up in October and ohh,
look, we seem to be getting always possums coming out into
this area in September. Ohh, right.
Well, maybe I need to deploy more traps in September to try
(11:14):
and get on top of these possums.And yeah, so we're still quite
early in the technology, but we've got them deployed with
councils, with Department of Conservation.
And yeah, hopefully it's going to be a bit of a game changer
for for our environment so that we understand what's going on
(11:36):
because there's lots of forests where it's just silent that
there's no, there's nothing out there listening to.
Let us know how fast the declineis going on.
And as a country we have our environment is really important
to us. So I think it's something like
27% of our GDP is produced as a result of nature.
(12:02):
So that's that's like horticulture, that's farming.
And so there's a real need for us to look after their asset.
New Zealand is one of the most biodiverse countries in the
world. There's some 4000 native species
here, a large proportion of the birds.
And I would reckon that not everybody could actually say,
(12:23):
ohh, that's what that bird sounds like, or this is what
this sounds like, you know? But I identify them by sound.
But Hark actually uses technology to determine what
type of bird it is, as well as just there's.
There's activity here, correct? Yeah, absolutely.
Yeah, as a country we are reallylucky to have such a massive
(12:46):
amount of biodiversity. But sadly, the other thing is,
is that I think we've got the greatest biodiversity loss in
the world and very. True.
Yes. So it's really important that as
individuals, as landowners, thatwe do our part to protect our
biodiversity, but also celebratewhat we have.
(13:07):
And so we're hoping that Heart can actually help all of us know
what we've got and, and yeah, Heart can identify all the
different bird species in real time.
And So what happens with the Heart platform is you can
actually go in there and select what AI models you want.
(13:29):
So you could say, I want the possum model, I want the rat
model, I want all the bird models.
And then in the future, we'll have additional models for that,
say accounts, one of the councils in New Zealand, they're
keen to have a model for deer. And so, you know, when a deer is
(13:49):
in the area, they want to know. And that could be something
that's beneficial to farmers or that say been kettler distressed
and they might be doing a lot more moooing into giving the
alert in real time that something's going on.
Or if there's a dog barking and you know, ohh, there shouldn't
be a dog here to give an alert for that in real time.
(14:12):
So yeah, there's some really cool applications for Hark in
terms of understanding our biodiversity, celebrating our
biodiversity and learning what birds we have on our on our
property, on your on piece of land.
But also, there could be other beneficial benefits for Hark.
Are there other places where this could work in the city
(14:35):
perhaps even? Or is there just too much
happening on a regular basis forit to work it work it's magic?
It could work in the city, but there's probably the cool thing
about this that makes it different is that like in the
city, you could possibly just plug something in and use power,
use the grid power, whereas thisis something that can go
(14:59):
anywhere in any remote setting. So that's what we've really
designed it for is because we'vegot a solar panel on it.
We've got some really fancy batteries that will last with
solar panel charging the batteries, you know, 10 years.
So you put the spark out there and you basically walk away and
you can just log on and see what's going on and you can say
(15:21):
I would like alerts for this andthis and this.
And yeah, that's what's really cool about it.
And then we hope that overtime will actually learn other sort
of technology that we can apply that will empower the user.
So whether it's empowering the farmer or whether it's
(15:41):
empowering the conservationist. So that could be things like
trap sensors. So having some cheap trap
sensors that will talk to the heart to say, oh, this traps
just gone off. So let's say a live cage trap
because you're trying to catch aa really clever feral cat who's.
Behind the technology, Who are you working with to create this?
(16:01):
Yes, so I'm very fortunate that my brother Bjorn who works for
Google is, has been doing this in all his spare time.
So he's been, he's given 10s tens of thousands of hours to
invest in this because he, like most New Zealanders, care about
(16:21):
our native birds and care about our environment.
And yeah, this is 1 little part that we can play to help help
our environment. And we also are a strong
believer in that predator free 2050 mission.
And we know that technology is is key to getting there.
If someone, one of our listenerswas listening to this and
(16:43):
thought, hey, I wouldn't mind a little heart on my land and how
do they go about getting something for themselves?
Ah yes, so they could jump on our website, HARK dot NZ, so
hark dot NZ and have a little look and then put their name
down for to be notified when it's available to everybody.
(17:04):
So at the moment it's just sort of available to some councils
and some conservation groups while we make sure that we that
this heart device is perfect before it goes out to everybody
that's keen to monitor their property and celebrate the cool
things about their property and also be part of the printed
(17:27):
32050 mission. And that's remove the pieces so
that you know that the birds aren't in competition, the grass
isn't being eaten by pests, and um, yeah, we have got a
beautiful, thriving environment.I'm sure there's many out there
listening that have land on their farm that isn't being used
(17:48):
and could be returned to native Bush or wetland, but have no
idea how to begin. What advice would you give?
Farmers are our, you know, one of our biggest landowners,
aren't they? And without them on board, yeah,
it's going to be a challenge. Farmers that want to do a little
bit more, um, things, little pieces of advice I would say is
(18:10):
that, you know, wetlands are a critical.
So, you know, in those zones where it's a bit boggy, if, if
they can fence it off, that would be fantastic because we
just don't have enough wetlands.And so our native bitten, we've
only got less than 1000 of them.And part of the problem with the
2 problems is that they don't have wetlands and they don't
(18:32):
have is not enough to control. So, you know, it's, it's maybe
thinking about those white lineslike, ohh, yeah, that's swamp.
You know, I let the kettle and it always makes a big mess.
Maybe it's just fencing that offand, you know, getting a few
plants in there. And then I know that there's
plenty of farms that have where the kettle maybe graze and a
(18:56):
small patch of Bush. And if you go in there and you
think, Gee, there's actually no,there's no new seedlings coming
up and there would be a prime piece of land to just fence off.
And maybe they can still get around.
They can go hard up against to the first trees to get into the
shade because shade is quite important, especially with
temperatures rising and summer. And then, yeah, I think about
(19:22):
little steps to pest control. So whether that's buying one of
those a 2220 traps or whether it's getting a few rat traps or
a few DOC 200 traps and just starting on that journey.
And yeah, and maybe just sort oflistening and looking a little
bit more and putting your name down for a heart device for the
(19:46):
future so you can learn what's in your backyard, in your in
your farm. I think that's fantastic advice
because it's one of those thingswhere it's not enough just to to
kill the pests, which are actually bringing in problems
for the farmers as well. You know, cats have diseases
like toxoplasmosis and then ratsalso carry diseases.
But then you also are restoring.It's not just enough to have the
(20:09):
pest control, but you also have to the restoration side of it
too. Because like you said, without
a, a wetland, you're not going to get those patterns.
So it's a mix of the two. And what has been the biggest
lesson that you've had in the time that you guys have been
doing both the pest control and the restoration?
I think it's trying to not do italone.
(20:31):
So, you know, maybe it's talkingto a neighbor or having a bit of
community support because sometimes, you know, if you're
just doing it quietly by yourself, it can be it can be a
bit overwhelming at times. So, you know, last year how we
had one of those storm events and that storm went right
through one of one of the areas that we had planted.
(20:52):
And it, gosh, I felt pretty overwhelmed in that moment.
But having a few people to call on to come and help, you know,
just get some of those trees standing up again.
We didn't actually lose that many at the time, thank
goodness. But, you know, all our bamboo
stakes were lying on the ground.Our tree guards were flesh.
And yeah, I think not putting that pressure on yourself to do
(21:15):
everything. But actually involving
community, involving family and having, having the neighbors
support you, encourage you, yeah, that that's really
important, I think. Well, thank you so much.
Miranda, I appreciate. It and until next time.
Yeah, until next time. Thank you for listening to
(21:36):
Blusha Diary, a PG writes in podcast.
If you're keen to learn more about the 800 Trust and their
incredible work and how you can get involved, we have more
information in our show notes. If you're enjoying our show, be
sure to listen and subscribe, plus tell a friend or five.
Until next time, I'm Caroline Burner.
See you then.
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