Working With Local Communities
The rise in the numbers and enthusiasm of members of local communities who put time and effort into restoring their natural areas is inspiring and exciting. One challenge that communities often face is having a lot of enthusiasm, but some gaps in the knowledge pool mean successful results are sometimes difficult to achieve. Indigena aims to provide guidance and help local communities achieve their goals.
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We understand the diversity of skills and objectives within local communities and the considerations required when working with different cultures.  We have been involved in community projects of varying scales, from conception to completion, or for specific parts of the project.  We can advise on appropriate funding sources for the planning and implementation of your project, provide a comprehensive restoration plan, and assist with the more technical parts of the operations while ensuring your group’s skills are being utilised fully within the project.

Restoration Consultancy and Weed Management Planning
Indigena provides comprehensive and holistic restoration management planning services tailored to available resources, spatial scales and differing ecosystems. Restoration plans frequently include stakeholder consultation, field surveys, data collection / analysis and the preparation of a comprehensive restoration plan. A restoration plan commonly includes: restoration goals; prioritised actions and project timeframes, along with monitoring and costing components. 

Our plans are always operationally focused on the implementation of the recommended actions and contain specific and detailed information to ensure that the plan is an easy-to-use document that enables the client to achieve their outcomes for the site.  Our strong practical background ensures that the recommended actions are realistic and effective. We can provide technical expertise to assist Assessment of Environmental Effects, Environmental Impact Assessments or Cultural Health Index requirements.
 
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GIS/Spatial Mapping and Analysis 
A Geographic Information System (GIS) is any system that captures, stores, analyses, manages, and presents data that are linked to location.  In the simplest terms, GIS is the merging of cartography and database technology. Geographic Information science allows complex patterns and relationships to be visualised and analysed in the context of real landscape space and over time.  GIS technology is vital in all of our projects, and routinely used from the planning stages to the initial operational work through to the follow-up control, reporting and mapping.

Indigena use Global Positioning Systems (GPS) for all our fieldwork to assist with follow-up control in subsequent seasons, and for thorough reporting and analysis. GPS units are carried by staff routinely - tracklogs are recorded and sites of interest are way-pointed.  This ensures that no areas are missed or covered twice, and sites that are isolated are recorded and the information made available for follow-up control next season.  This information can be provided in a format to suit your operating systems and requirements.

Fauna and flora monitoring, inventories and surveys
  We carry out ecological surveys for:

• indigenous and exotic plant inventories
• vegetation mapping
• fauna surveys
• investigations into the cultural and social values of the site (including Cultural Health Index Assessments)
• an assessment of the ecological significance and biodiversity values of the area
• potential ecological effects
• assessing impacts of invasive species
• assessing carbon stocks and rates of sequestration

  We can tailor our surveys to suit client requirements.
 

Physical and chemical plant pest control

• Natural ecosystems are susceptible to the invasion of many species of pest plants, especially when they are regenerating or contain sites of physical disturbance.  Our comprehensive knowledge of these ecosystems and how they function enables us to identify invasive pest plant species that threaten this function, and control them with the least amount of disturbance to the native ecosystem.  We have extensive knowledge of pest plant identification, and choose the most appropriate method of control from a wide range of options.  The methods used depend on the species to be controlled, non-target species in the area to be protected, the site location and resources available. 
• We keep abreast with the latest technological advances and developments, as well as developing our methodologies for situations that are new or different.  We understand that pest plant control can never be a one-off event, and always plan for follow-up control for several years, to ensure that the seed-bank is exhausted and other sources of re-invasion are managed. 
• Depending on your goals and resources, our level of involvement can be altered to suit you.  For example, we can run the whole project from start to finish, or allocate specific tasks that are suitable for community group volunteers.  We can run educational sessions to train volunteers on aspects of pest plant control.
• Methods of pest plant control range from hand-pulling, cutting and stump-treating, to foliar spraying and drilling and injecting herbicide.  All our staff are Growsafe and Approved Handler certified.​​

Native revegetation
We carry out successful restoration plantings of many kinds;

• riparian management and protection plantings
• weed replacement/suppression plantings
• forest diversity and enhancement plantings
• restoration and stabilisation plantings of bare land and coastal areas
• minimal intervention and natural succession regeneration regimes (e.g. on ex-plantation forestry sites)

We can manage these plantings from the planning stage to the point where they plantings no longer need maintenance and have developed canopy cover.  In detail this includes;

• budgeting and required resources
• recommendations for irrigation and protection
• species selection
• plant sourcing
• site selection and placement of trees
• planting and protection (e.g. tree guards, weed mats)
• release from grasses and weeds
• ongoing maintenance

We can also organise Community Planting days for ‘Friends of’ groups or similar land-care groups taking responsibility for the health of their local ecosystems.  Assisting and empowering community groups by giving them the knowledge and ability to care for these places in the most effective and efficient way possible is a particular passion of ours – restoration plantings are often a significant part of this.
 
Management and control of animal pests
Pest animal control is a vital part of conservation on island ecosystems.  Your project may be a small reserve or an entire catchment area that you would like to improve the health of.  We can organise your trapping programme from the initial cutting of the trap lines, building and laying out the traps or tracking tunnels, checking and maintaining trap lines, recording and reporting on trap catches. 
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Depending on your goals and resources, our level of involvement can be altered to suit you.  For example, we can run the whole project from start to finish, or set up lines that community group volunteers can check and maintain.  We can run educational sessions to train volunteers on aspects of pest animal control.