B-1 - Area 1, Coromandel Forest Park – Assessment of Environmental Effects 67 These are: Further mitigation – intensive pest control within 314 ha of the WUG surface footprint (where surface vibrations >2 mm / sec are expected) to deliver benefits specifically for Archey’s frogs (and associated benefits for Hochstetter’s frogs); and Offset enhancements – intensive pest control within 318 ha of ‘best’ and ‘great’ habitat for Archey’s frog to the east and west of WUG (this is an area of Archey’s frog habitat that is superior to habitat within most of the WUG footprint; associated benefits are anticipated for Hochstetter’s frogs); and Compensation – in the form of financial support for researchers to undertake investigative work within the WUG and wider habitat (frog) enhancement areas to assess efficacy of pest control regimes for frog recovery, and surveys of the broader Coromandel Peninsula to better understand the distribution and habitat preferences of Archey’s frogs. The management response proposed for Archey’s frogs set out above will provide a demonstrable net benefit for the species such that consideration of additional actions is not necessary. Benefits are also anticipated for Hochstetter’s frogs and a wide range of other flora and fauna. The proposed programme of pest control which is focussed on delivering benefits for Archey’s frogs within the further mitigation and offset enhancement areas outlined above is the subject of the management plan prepared by Boffa Miskell and has these design components: Pest control designed specifically to supress rats and mice as key predators of frogs, and to reverse destruction of frog habitat caused by ungulates (in particular, pigs), and sustain this over a prolonged period; The design of the programme, including control devices, layout, toxins and trapping programmes, control targets, operational trigger thresholds, and adaptive management responses are based on work undertaken by DOC at Whareorino and the successes of private landowners on the Coromandel at controlling pest species over smaller areas with demonstrated benefit for Archey’s (and Hochstetter’s) frogs; and The spatial location of the proposed pest control areas is intended to buffer and augment existing areas where Archey’s frogs are known to exist, and target habitat where high densities of frogs are known or predicted to exist (based on habi tatabundance associations modelled through other parts of the Coromandel Peninsula). With effective pest control in place, the Boffa Miskell report anticipates that a level of population enhancement of Archey’s frogs could be expected of at least 2.3 times the current population over a period of 3-4 years (and possibly greater in years after that). The
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