Getting together to build some tunnels?
Tunnel building workshops serve three primary functions; building tunnels, building community and building network resilience. They’re a great way to bring everyone together over a shared activity, fostering connections amongst trappers and topping up tunnel supplies to ensure you can harness enthusiasm and facilitate an expanding tāwhiti (trap) network.
We held the first of these workshops in 2021 after finding that we had more people wanting traps than we could keep up with. We’d also been hosting regular catch ups for trappers but it wasn’t the best use of time for volunteers already giving so much, and attendance reflected this. So, when we asked trappers how we could best support their mahi, the answer was unanimous — we need more traps and we can help you make them — so tunnel building workshops began.
I hope this resource provides a useful starting point and you can fine tune your process over time, creating a workshop that best suits your community.
Happy tunnel building!
