Norbert is a man on a mission. Taking a moment from his mayoral race duties, he shows us around his steep, central Wellington property as we discuss everything from his love for nature to the giant blue letters in his garden (they’re TORW and N, by the way).

He’s excited to start trapping, and we talk him through the process of setting up a Goodnature Trap. “It’s an ideal solution,'' he says, ecstatic about the thought of bringing even more birds into his backyard. Living on the Wellington town belt, he regularly sees kaka, kākāriki and pīwakawaka in his backyard, and for Norbert, this is what pest control is all about.

“Taking care of the pests is the main thing, and if that’s done, I think the birdlife will continue to come out”.

Building bird boxes is the plan once the rats are under control, and he’s already “replanting the area with a lot of bird attracting plants”. It’s clear Norbert has a strong vision for his piece of paradise.

It’s a joy to stand in his garden, and it’s easy to see how amazing it must be to have kaka joining him for breakfast in the trees outside his kitchen window.

Norbert is using a Smart Trap. We’ve attached it to the base of a small shed on his property - a particularly ‘ratty’ spot about 20m from his house. He’s seen rats walk past him while gardening so he knows they’re a problem. The beauty of the Smart Trap on Norbert's property, is he can sit at his kitchen table and get alerts on his phone when his trap has been triggered - there’s no need to check the trap in a howling southerly. And with plenty of cats in the neighbourhood, so he knows they’ll do the clean up job.

Norbert is often away for a few weeks at a time. at another property; another reason he’s excited about his new Smart Trap. With its automatic resetting and long-life paste it really is set and forget - so he knows he can easily stay on top of his rat problem. And, with notifications on his Goodnature App reminding him when his Co2 or paste supplies are low, he can pop out and refresh the trap when needed, and know his trap will always be ready and waiting to catch the next rat that comes by.

Norbert’s goal is to see more birdlife in Wellington, Bigger than that, he wants to see individuals, supported by local government taking true ownership of their environment and doing their bit to help protect what we have.

He’s the very essence of kaitiakitanga (environmental guardianship), and we’re looking forward to seeing his journey to bringing back the birds.