Our project

Working together to protect native wildlife.

City Sanctuary is one of three Predator Free Dunedin projects working together to reduce the threat of possums and other pests on our city’s native wildlife.

Our operating area spans more than 8,000 hectares and includes many of Dunedin’s suburbs and urban reserves. Our aim is to reduce possums to very low numbers in key parts of the city to protect native wildlife and prevent the surrounding landscapes of The Halo Project and Predator Free Peninsula being reinvaded.

City Sanctuary’s area lies across more than 32,000 properties, extending from North East Valley to South Dunedin, across to Brighton and Chain Hills. By working together we can end the threat of introduced predators and make our city a place where endless birdsong is enjoyed by everyone.

Current target areas

Click the different areas on the map to see where we’re currently working and when we’ll be in your suburb.

Backyard trapping for possums

Backyard trapping is a key part of reducing possum numbers and goes hand-in-hand with trapping in public reserves and parks.

We provide possum traps, resources, and support to help residents in important locations become involved. Rat and mustelid (stoats, ferrets and weasels) traps are also available.

All our traps are safe to use around kids and pets, and have passed humane testing to ensure predators pass away quickly.

Possums have a highly destructive impact on native forests and eat more than 200 different New Zealand plants. They are also known to eat eggs and chicks of birds.

Gardens make up 36% of Dunedin’s residential area and are collectively the largest area of green space within the city. With more than 32,000 rate paying properties in our operating area, residents are a integral part of achieving low predator numbers.

Hundreds of backyard trappers are already helping create safe sanctuaries on their properties across Dunedin. Can you help?

Backyard legend

Ian is one of our backyard trappers in Helensburgh and has rallied his neighbours together to protect their patch.

Parks and reserves trapping

We have hundreds of possum, rat and mustelid traps covering some of Dunedin’s most important urban parks and reserves.

City Sanctuary trap lines span from Chingford Park to Ross Creek Reserve and Signal Hill, down through the Botanic and Woodhaugh Gardens, spreading along the Town Belt to Jubilee Park and bushy areas in Caversham.

These green areas are home to precious native species such as kererū, tūī and bellbirds/korimako. Reducing predators to low numbers will allow the bush to regenerate and birds to raise chicks safely.

These areas also provide a safe flight path for birds to move into the city from Orokonui Ecosanctuary, and we anticipate bird numbers will increase as predators are kept at low levels.

We are installing more trap lines in parks and reserve land as we move into new suburbs, going hand-in-hand with backyard trapping.

  • Botanic Garden

    Woodhaugh Gardens

    Jubilee Park

    Signal Hill

    Chingford Park and Chingford Bush

    Ross Creek Reserve

    Dalmore Reserve

    Frasers Gully

    Town Belt

    Craigieburn Reserve

    Prospect Park

    Sidey Park

    Caversham Recreation Reserve

    Second Beach

  • Traps do not contain any toxins and are designed to kill predators humanely. Traps are set and baited to protect domestic pets from accessing them. If you have any concerns about traps, please contact us at info@citysanctuary.nz

Partnering with others

It will take a whole of community approach to reduce the number of introduced predators within the city. We love working with community groups, schools, and local projects to help them to get involved in predator control. We provide technical advice, support, and best practice predator control guidance to help other conservation initiatives make a difference.

If you’re an organisation, group or school in Dunedin City wanting to get involved with City Sanctuary’s work, please get in touch.

Groups we work with…

  • Birds NZ

    We’ve worked with Birds NZ to create the Town Belt Bird Count, a trail of bird monitoring signs for the public to record bird counts in the Town Belt. These counts will provide important data and help us understand changes in bird populations.

  • Manaaki Whenua

    We have a research partnership with Manaaki Whenua - Landcare Research to conduct local research that will make our predator control operations more effective.

  • The Valley Project

    The Valley Project is a community group in North East Valley. We’re working with The Valley Project to encourage backyard trapping and other environmental actions in northern Dunedin.

  • North Dunedin Shed

    North Dunedin Shed has been building rat trap boxes and bird nest boxes for us to use in local parks and reserves

  • Aroha Kaikorai Valley

    We are supporting the newly-formed environmental group Aroha Kaikorai Valley to kickstart predator control in the Kaikorai Valley.

  • Brighton Trapping Project

    In Brighton we're supplying possum traps for use on council reserves and sharing the latest tips on residential pest control with the Brighton Trapping Project.

  • Town Belt Kaitiaki

    We love having the help of young conservationists to reduce possum and rat numbers in the Town Belt.

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