Goodnature is a New Zealand company that specializes in producing traps designed for the control of animal pests like stoats, rats, mice, and possums. The company was founded in 2005 by Robbie van Dam and Craig Bond. Goodnature's product line includes automatic self-resetting traps for pest control along with associated accessories.

History

Goodnature was founded by friends Robbie van Dam and Craig Bond who met while studying industrial design at Victoria University. Van Dam had a job at the

Department of Conservation An environmental ministry is a national or subnational government agency politically responsible for the environment and/or natural resources. Various other names are commonly used to identify such agencies, such as Ministry of the Environment ...

(DOC) in the Biodiversity Unit building gadgets for pest control when he noticed the methods for killing pest species such as

rat Rats are various medium-sized, long-tailed rodents. Species of rats are found throughout the order Rodentia, but stereotypical rats are found in the genus ''Rattus''. Other rat genera include ''Neotoma'' ( pack rats), ''Bandicota'' (bandicoot ...

stoats The stoat (''Mustela erminea''), also known as the Eurasian ermine, Beringian ermine and ermine, is a mustelid native to Eurasia and the northern portions of North America. Because of its wide circumpolar distribution, it is listed as Least Conc ...

and

possums Possum may refer to: Animals * Phalangeriformes, or possums, any of a number of arboreal marsupial species native to Australia, New Guinea, and Sulawesi ** Common brushtail possum (''Trichosurus vulpecula''), a common possum in Australian urban a ...

were either inefficient or inhumane. DOC funded the development of some of their early concepts to create the traps manufactured by Goodnature today.

Department of Conservation partnership

Goodnature released the first beta self-resetting trap for rats and stoats during New Zealand Conservation Week in September 2009. The initial technology could self-reset 12 times using compressed CO₂. Field testing led to the development of a trap for brushtail possums, and another for rats and stoats. The company also built a lure development facility to test animal attractants as lures. The traps were put into long-term, large scale evaluation by DOC from 2010 to 2016. Goodnature's traps are endorsed by the Ministry of Primary Industries (MPI) for their efficiency in killing pests, and by DOC's Science and Technical team which recommends their use for conservation projects to protect New Zealand native plant and bird species.

Goodnature Products

Goodnature produces and sells two pest control devices; one for brushtail possums, and another trap for rats and stoats; it also produces toxin-free lures to target these pests.

Technology

The self-resetting traps are powered by

compressed gas A compressed fluid (also called a compressed or unsaturated liquid, subcooled fluid or liquid) is a fluid under mechanical or thermodynamic conditions that force it to be a liquid. At a given pressure, a fluid is a compressed fluid if it is at ...

and use a target-specific lure to attract animals. The traps work by striking the skull of the animal with a steel-cored, glass reinforced, polymer piston (described as a captive bolt), killing it almost instantly. This piston is driven by compressed CO₂ when the animal triggers the trap. Once the animal has been struck, the piston returns, dropping the animal to the ground and resetting the trap. The traps have achieved the Class A standard for humaneness as set out in the MPI's National Animal Welfare Advisory Committee's guidelines. This is the only possum trap ever to have met this standard. The A24 also meets the United Kingdom's Spring Traps Approval Order.

Awards

In 2016, Goodnature's A24 rat and stoat trap and automatic lure pump won Best Effect at the Design Institute of New Zealand for improving DOC's capability in New Zealand forests. It also received the supreme Purple Pin which is given to work that raises the bar of New Zealand design. Both Goodnature's A24 and A12 traps have won the Non-Consumer, Sustainable Product Design and Best Effect awards at the design institute's Best Awards since 2011.

Usage

Conservation usage

Goodnature's traps have been used in New Zealand in projects by DOC, city and regional councils, community groups, and households. DOC has used Goodnature traps on Native Island, Southland, at Harts Hill in

Fiordland National Park Fiordland National Park occupies the southwest corner of the South Island of New Zealand. It is by far the largest of the 13 national parks in New Zealand, with an area of , and a major part of the Te Wahipounamu World Heritage Site. The park i ...

, at Boundary Stream,

Hawkes Bay Hawke's Bay ( mi, Te Matau-a-Māui) is a local government region on the east coast of New Zealand's North Island. The region's name derives from Hawke Bay, which was named by Captain James Cook in honour of Admiral Edward Hawke. The region is ...

, Te Urewera Mainland Island, and at

Abel Tasman National Park Abel Tasman National Park is a New Zealand national park located between Golden Bay and Tasman Bay / Te Tai-o-Aorere at the north end of the South Island. It is named after Abel Tasman, who in 1642 became the first European explorer to sight New ...

In June 2017, 1200 stoat traps were installed on 11,400 hectares of the Haast Kiwi Sanctuary to protect tokoeka kiwi, as part of the department'
Battle For Our Birds
programme. In the same programme, DOC also increased the number of stoat traps in

Arthur's Pass National Park Arthur's Pass National Park is located in the South Island of New Zealand and covers 1,185 km2 of mostly mountainous terrain. Adjacent to it lies Craigieburn Forest Park. History Arthurs Pass National Park was established in 19 ...

and

Lake Sumner Forest Park left, Gabriel hut at lake Sumner Forest Park Lake Sumner Forest Park is a forest park located in the Canterbury region of the South Island of New Zealand. It is centered around Lewis Pass and has a number of access points along State Highway 7. ...

in an effort to save one of New Zealand's rarest parakeets (

orange-fronted parakeet The orange-fronted parakeet or orange-fronted conure (''Eupsittula canicularis''), also known as the half-moon conure, is a medium-sized parrot that is resident from western Mexico to Costa Rica. Taxonomy The orange-fronted parakeet was Species ...

) from extinction. In January 2017, the kiwi sanctuary at Rimutaka Forest Park was doubled in size to 7000 hectares to aid the regeneration of New Zealand's

North Island brown kiwi The North Island brown kiwi (''Apteryx mantelli''; ''Apteryx australis'' or ''Apteryx bulleri'' as before 2000, still used in some sources) is a species of kiwi that is widespread in the northern two-thirds of the North Island of New Zealand and ...

. A total of 1200 Goodnature traps were laid down to reduce the number of stoats at the park which prey on kiwi. The traps were a key tool behind a rodent control program at Maria Langa Cay, Puerto Rico in 2014 chosen to avoid the use of

rodenticide Rodenticides are chemicals made and sold for the purpose of killing rodents. While commonly referred to as "rat poison", rodenticides are also used to kill mice, squirrels, woodchucks, chipmunks, porcupines, nutria, beavers, and voles. Despi ...

on the island, which is a nesting site for the endangered

hawksbill sea turtle The hawksbill sea turtle (''Eretmochelys imbricata'') is a critically endangered sea turtle belonging to the family Cheloniidae. It is the only extant species in the genus ''Eretmochelys''. The species has a global distribution, that is largel ...

and home to the

brown pelican The brown pelican (''Pelecanus occidentalis'') is a bird of the pelican family, Pelecanidae, one of three species found in the Americas and one of two that feed by diving into water. It is found on the Atlantic Coast from New Jersey to the mout ...

. Goodnature traps are also used in conservation projects throughout Hawaii including in

Kalaupapa National Historical Park Kalaupapa National Historical Park is a United States National Historical Park located in Kalaupapa, Hawaii, on the island of Molokai. Coterminous with the boundaries of Kalawao County and primarily on Kalaupapa peninsula, it was established by ...

Oahu Oahu () (Hawaiian language, Hawaiian: ''Oʻahu'' ()), also known as "The Gathering place#Island of Oʻahu as The Gathering Place, Gathering Place", is the third-largest of the Hawaiian Islands. It is home to roughly one million people—over t ...

, in the

Waianae Waianae () is a census-designated place (CDP) in Honolulu County, Hawaii, United States. As of the 2020 census, the CDP population was 13,614. Its name means "waters of the mullet". Its etymology is shared with the far northern Wellington subu ...

and Ko'olau mountain ranges of Oahu, and on the island of

Lanai Lanai ( haw, Lānai, , , also ,) is the sixth-largest of the Hawaiian Islands and the smallest publicly accessible inhabited island in the chain. It is colloquially known as the Pineapple Island because of its past as an island-wide pineapple pl ...

. The company has also developed targeted devices for introduced

mongoose A mongoose is a small terrestrial carnivorous mammal belonging to the family Herpestidae. This family is currently split into two subfamilies, the Herpestinae and the Mungotinae. The Herpestinae comprises 23 living species that are native to so ...

in Hawaii, the introduced

American mink The American mink (''Neogale vison'') is a semiaquatic species of mustelid native to North America, though human intervention has expanded its range to many parts of Europe, Asia and South America. Because of range expansion, the American mink i ...

in Finland and Sweden, and the introduced

grey squirrel The eastern gray squirrel (''Sciurus carolinensis''), also known, particularly outside of North America, as simply the grey squirrel, is a tree squirrel in the genus ''Sciurus''. It is native to eastern North America, where it is the most prodi ...

in the United Kingdom. The company's traps are now used in more than 25 countries including: the United States, Canada, England, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Finland, Scotland, Ireland, France, Spain, Italy, Portugal and Australia.

References

{{Reflist

External links

* http://www.doc.govt.nz/our-work/battle-for-our-birds/ Battle For Our Birds * https://bestawards.co.nz/ Best Awards Pest control Companies based in Wellington New Zealand design