New tools to be trialed in large scale predator control projects

$3.5 million has been set aside out of a total $19.5 million investment from the PGF in Predator Free 2050 Limited to expand predator control in regional New Zealand and find products that reduce the need for repeated 1080 use.

Innovation and technology are behind five new tools to give nature a helping hand by helping eliminate predators, funded through the Provincial Growth Fund (PGF), Minister for Conservation Eugenie Sage and Parliamentary Under-Secretary for Regional Economic Development Fletcher Tabuteau announced today.

“The new tools will be trialed in large scale predator control projects funded by Predator Free 2050 Limited. They expand the range of options available for conservation managers, landholders, farmers and community organisations. They are part of a wider shift of effort from suppressing predators to eradicating them to boost the prospects for native wildlife,” said Eugenie Sage.

$3.5 million has been set aside out of a total $19.5 million investment from the PGF in Predator Free 2050 Limited to expand predator control in regional New Zealand and find products that reduce the need for repeated 1080 use.

“These products are a pivotal step towards a predator-free future for New Zealand, driven by innovative and creative Kiwis that now have the funding they need to bring their products to market in regions around the country,” Fletcher Tabuteau said.

“Many of our regions are home to incredible natural taonga. Investment from the PGF is about taking a new approach to protecting these assets to bring tens of thousands of hectares of rural and forested land under effective predator control.”

“Once development and production are complete, these products will be tested in the large landscape-scale projects being funded by Predator Free 2050 Limited in Taranaki, Hawke’s Bay, Otago, and other regions,” Eugenie Sage said.

“Nature is the basis of regional economies and local identity, and I look forward to seeing the impact these new products have on enabling native wildlife to flourish.”

Predator Free 2050 Limited received 63 applications for new product developments and further design ideas are being assessed for funding. Out of $19.5 million of PGF funding granted to Predator Free 2050 Limited, a total of $6.5 million will be used for product development and $12m for new regional large landscape predator control projects.

These projects are part of the Government’s wider plan to back nature and restore the dawn chorus with the largest increase to the Department of Conservation’s budget in over a decade enabling the most widespread predator control ever.

(With Inputs from New Zealand Government Press Release)