A volunteer for Kiwi Coast is asking dog owners to be extra vigilant with their animals while on holiday on Northland's eastern coast.

Jarrid Plows and his partner Kayla Raines are among a group of people who are working alongside agencies such as the Department of Conservation, the Ngatiwai Trust, both the Whangarei and Northland regional councils and Kiwi Coast to restore the Tutukaka and Matapouri area to its natural habitat.

Plows and Raines have taken a specific interest in Whale Bay and the Otito Reserve which are renown for mature stands of puriri, pohutukawa and kowhai.

Conservation at Whale Bay means no dogs.

Plows, a qualified professional pest control operator, has been purging the area of pest animals to allow kiwi a safe environment to populate.

Wandering dogs can be a threat to native wild life, including kiwi and he reminds the public that dogs are not allowed at all in the Whale Bay area and only on a leash in the Otito Reserve.

He says signs are posted around the areas, but many get defaced or vandalised.

Supplied Much of the eastern coastline is a kiwi protected area.

"In general we are well supported by the locals, but visitors and holiday makers can be a little resistant to keeping their dogs on a leash when in the area. During the peak period any dog in a public area in the Tutukaka- Matapouri Bay must be restrained."

"The owner of any dog harassing wildlife - including sea birds can be prosecuted," Plows says.

"I am not anti dog, but we are hoping to encourage owners to take a responsible attitude."

The Kiwi Coast now extends approximately 195km from Bream Head to the Aupouri peninsula in the Far North.

Priority has continued to be given to reducing threats to kiwi survival, especially within an initial area between Bream Head and Whananaki.

This involved the deployment of new predator traps, more time spent on trap servicing and holding events and workshops to engage people in caring for kiwi protection and improving dog control. A total of 120,293 ha are now under active pest control along the Kiwi Coast.

In the past three years 113,102 animals pests have been eradicated. More than 47,000 and 45,000 rodents are among those that have been killed.