Predator free Nelson - The power of community and conversation. Creating Biodiversity corridors from shared spaces to your back garden.

Come and join us for a night of inspirational women working on bringing people and communities together in Nelson for conservation - Lucy Byrne (Toi Toi Trappers), Emma Marshall (Rat-To-Tūī Trapping Group) and Nicola Gabelich (Birdlife on Grampians/Wild About The Grampians) will share the stories, successes, and lessons on the journey of working towards a predator and pest free Nelson. With such a broad mixture of both public and private land, we need to gather our resources, ensure solid foundations and keep talking!

Lucy shares the story of Toi Toi Trappers, a backyard trapping group born from local passion, Predator Free NZ support and neighbors coming together. From funding wins to growing a thriving community network, she explores lessons learned and what’s next for the dream of a Predator Free Nelson.

Wild About The Grampians, (WATG) is a native forest regeneration volunteer project that Nicola established 4 and a half years ago. WATG is a small group (5 volunteers) who work every week and are slowly but surely removing invasive weed species from several areas of the Grampians and then replanting in natives.

Nicola has also been trapping for four and a half years and is now one quarter of the committee that leads the predator control work on the Grampians, with the community trapping group, Birdlife on Grampians, (BLOG). BLOG was established 17 years ago by Nelson conservationist, Bryce Buckland. When Bryce decided to hang up his backpack a year ago, a small group of existing BLOG trappers formed a committee to continue his work. The group has now grown to 30-plus trappers, who regularly service 20 trap lines and approximately 600 traps. The birdlife is thriving as a result.

Emma Marshall is a former law firm partner who traded the boardroom for boots-on-the-ground conservation, founding the urban backyard Rat-To-Tūī Trapping Group. What began just a year ago as a small effort on one street to reduce predators and support native wildlife has grown into an initiative now 52 members strong, with 74 traps set across the neighbourhood. From bird counts to predator monitoring and community events, the group is steadily bringing people on board to help transform a 42-hectare urban area. Looking ahead, there’s a shared ambition to link with other community groups across backyards, reserves, and public spaces in Nelson City—supporting the Nelson Halo predator control and habitat enhancement initiative and building a more connected network for nature. Emma will share how starting small, close to home, can grow organically over time—without giving up the day job—and why taking that first step matters.

Toi Toi Trappers, Rat-to-tui and Birdlife on Grampians are bringing private households and shared public land together to develop the vision of the Nelson Halo and a predator/pest free Nelson. In this unsettled time join us for a night of community and conversation to discover the benefits of small actions towards a positive future, how you can get involved in your neighborhood and the power of community.

Doors open for drinks and dinner at 5.30, event starts at 7.
Please register your attendance to this free event.

This event is part of Conservation Week 2026 - www.doc.govt.nz/conservationweek