TE IPUKAREA SOCIETY - CARETAKERS OF THE COOKS Story: Rachel Smith Photos: Te Ipukarea Society
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nder the lid is a wriggling mass of worms, millipedes and cockroaches – exactly what you would expect from a well maintained worm farm. Alanna Smith, Project Officer at Te Ipukarea Society (TIS), digs around with a spoon and pulls out some worms. These are not any old worms but a specific type of compost worm known as ‘red wrigglers’ which can be found around muddy pig pens.
compost and worm wee for gardens. The worm farms are typical of the projects that TIS undertake. A non-government environmental organisation, they work to recognise and support the natural environment of the Cook Islands – the ocean, the land, the mountains and the lagoon, and the many varieties of flora and fauna whose home is spread across the 15 islands.
Alanna and fellow Project Officer, Liam Kokaua, have set up similar worm farms at schools across the Cook Islands over the past year. Funded by the Global Environment Fund Small Grants Programme (GEF SGP), worm farms were purchased for each school and education provided on how to care for their worms as well as benefits such as using organic waste to produce
Kelvin Passfield, Technical Director, has been a member of TIS since it began back in 1996, initiated as a members based volunteer organisation by a group of concerned citizens. Managed by a voluntary committee it has only been in recent times that TIS has been able to attract sufficient funds to be able to pay four employees, including part-time Finance Manager Mary McDonald. The small team has a big job to do, working across the Cook Islands to share information and create public awareness, collaborating with other organisations both locally and globally, and undertaking carefully selected field projects. All their work is based around their five key focus areas: Biodiversity, Youth, Climate Change, Eco Sustainable Development and Waste Management. What this means is that while one day they may be setting up worm farms, the next day could be spent scrambling about mountains counting birds, making a UNESCO funded documentary on traditional fishing of flying fish in Mitiaro, working with government departments to establish the Cook Islands Marine Park now known as Marae Moana or journeying up to the Northern Group islands to eradicate invasive rats which predate on native birds.
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“It’s different every day,” says Alanna, who alongside Liam joined the TIS team at the beginning of 2015. TIS relies on funding from a range of sources, including BirdLife International with whom TIS is a recognised partner, and the Arcadia Foundation. BirdLife International has an obvious focus on conservation of bird life, and supports many of the biodiversity projects in the Cook Islands. This work takes TIS from one end of the country to the other - from rugged mountains to remote atolls and everywhere in between. Last year Liam visited Mangaia, for a project on the Tanga’eo, Mangaian Kingfisher, which is endemic to the island of Mangaia. “I talked with the community about the current status of the bird and its habitat,” says Liam. “We want to ensure the next generation of Mangaians are proud of their bird.” This year has a different bird life focus with the team set to head off for three weeks on another GEF SGP funded project to Suwarrow, a national park established back in 1975. Here they will undertake a rat re-eradication programme, a follow up to the first programme in 2012, and also a sea bird survey. “Suwarrow Atoll has a regionally significant seabird population,” says Liam, who will have the challenging task of counting hundreds of moving sea birds, with assistance provided from experts at BirdLife International. “I’m really looking forward to that.” Aside from these donor funded projects, TIS has an additional wish-list of areas to work