Wellington targeted for predator-free status within 10 years

Source: Radio New Zealand

Wellington has been officially targeted to become New Zealand’s first predator-free city.

Conservation Minister Tama Potaka made the announcement as part of the Predator Free 2050 strategy update today. It’s the first update of the strategy since the goal’s launch in 2016 under John Key’s National-led government.

Predator Free Wellington will receive $5.5 million over five years from the Department of Conservation (DOC) and will work alongside Capital Kiwi and Zealandia Te Māra a Tāne.

“This is a coordinated push across the whole city. Practical action that people will notice in their neighbourhoods, with more native species returning and thriving,” said Potaka.

The operation will target predators over 18,500 hectares. Potaka said increasing native wildlife would create opportunities for conservation-based tourism for the city.

Potaka hopes the goal will be achieved within a decade, and for the work done in Wellington to become a blueprint for efforts to eliminate predators from other large urban areas. If successful, it would mean the complete elimination of rats, possums, stoats, ferrets, weasels and feral cats from the greater Wellington region.

He listed Auckland, Taranaki and Dunedin as other places where lessons learnt in Wellington could be applied.

Country-wide, more than 9000 groups work to control predators.

“Nearly a third of New Zealanders are now directly involved. Which means for many households, predator control is now somewhere between a hobby and a competitive sport,” said Potaka.

However, some of those efforts were fragmented, which needed to change.

New Zealand has one of the highest rates of threatened species in the world, Potaka said.

“As Minister of Conservation, I am not interested in managing decline. I am interested in reversing it.”

Other changes in the updated strategy include the addition of feral cats to the species targeted, joining possums, rats, and mustelids, such as ferrets, stoats and weasels. The addition was announced after RNZ reporting that Prime Minister Christopher Luxon had promised during a 2023 election debate to add feral cats but failed to do so.

The strategy included information on how to determine whether a cat is a feral, stray or companion cat. Only feral cats will be targeted.

Potaka did not confirm if new rules, such as requiring domestic cats to be microchipped, would be introduced, although he said there is interest amongst some MPs in Wellington. He said if this happens it would be separate to predator free work.

Mice and hedgehogs have been added to a research list. They have a significant impact on native wildlife, particularly threatened lizard and invertebrate species, including wētā. Tools for humane removal of these species will be investigated and they may be included in the target species list in future.

The cash behind the goal

Other than the $5.5m for Wellington, no other funding announcements were made.

“There is huge funding which is channeled through DOC, whether or not it’s baseline, or through the IVL (International Visitor Levy) that contributes to Predator Free, but also there’s significant philanthropic, iwi, local community, local council support.”

He said projects were not short of funding, but that good collaboration was needed.

When Predator Free 2050 was launched in 2016, a company was created to manage projects related to the goal. It was given $28m over four years to be put toward predator control projects and technological advancements.

Last year the government disestablished the company, bringing all current contracts under the Department of Conservation. This was intended to reduce duplication between DOC and the Predator Free 2050 company and save the government $12.6m in operating costs over four years. A Cabinet paper said the company had failed to attract philanthropic funding.

An Official Information Act response shows 20 contracts ended, or are due to end in 2026, with a total value of $31.7m. Another 17 finish in 2027, with total funding of $63.4m.

These include contracts for projects such as Te Korowai o Waiheke, which aims to eradicate stoats from Waiheke Island and Predator Free Whangārei’s goal to eliminate possums.

Some of these projects attract funding from a variety of sources, and make use of volunteers.

Potaka said future funding will be “weighed up” across priorities within DOC. Decisions would be based on performance, readiness and alignment with the updated strategy.

One of the key actions in the strategy update is to develop long-term partnerships to fund Predator Free 2050.

It also lays out a series of milestone achievements on the way to the goal of Predator Free 2050.

By 2030:

• Cost-effective and adaptable blueprints for elimination are developed for both urban and rural environments.

By 2035:

• The Sub-Antarctic World Heritage Area is completely free from mammalian pests through the completion of Maukahuka Pest Free Auckland Island.

By 2040:

• Mammalian pests are eliminated from at least 5 million of New Zealand’s 8.5 million hectares of backcountry and their pest-free status is maintained.
• Stoats are eradicated from Waiheke Island, providing a proof of concept for urban and rural stoat elimination, where aerial bait cannot be used.
• Mammalian pests are eliminated from at least 1 million hectares across rural and urban areas and their pest-free status is maintained.

By 2045:

By 2050:

• The final urban eradication operation in New Zealand’s most populated city is close to completion.
• New Zealand is a global leader in predator management and has a significant economic market in providing tools and advice to the world

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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

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