Possum control project kicks off to limit power outages in Banks Peninsula
Friday, 1 November 2019
A five-year programme aiming to eradicate thousands of possums from the Banks Peninsula has launched.
The scheme, a partnership between the Department of Conservation (DOC) and lines company Orion, will see a full-time ranger employed to focus on possum control.
DOC Mahaanui operations manager Andy Thompson said the scheme would be a game changer for protecting native wildlife and forest on Banks Peninsula's conservation land.
He said removing possums, a bush canopy browser and predator, would help regenerate native bush and help improve breeding of native birds like tuī, which had been reintroduced to the area.
**READ MORE:
* Wild goats on Canterbury's Banks Peninsula in the crosshairs
* The kaitiaki who's spent over 30 years reforesting a Banks Peninsula reserve
Possums are a significant problem on the peninsula. They are known to eat both the eggs and chicks of native birds, and have been filmed raiding nest of tuī, pīwakawaka/fantails, kererū/wood pigeon.
They also target native plants like tōtara, makomako/wineberry and māhoe, causing damage to the entire canopy and affecting its regeneration.
Thompson said combined with goats, they were stopping regeneration because it meant both the canopy and understory were being compromised.
Orion is part of the project because possums climb the power poles or get into powerlines from nearby trees.
Infrastructure general manager Steve MacDonald said this could cause a high voltage electrical arc, which knocks out power to hundreds of homes, farms and businesses.
'We've fitted possum guards on all our wood poles, but increasingly we see possums climbing our concrete poles. This behaviour and the growing number of possums in the area have increased the problem.'
Between April 2018 and March 2019, Orion had 54 outages caused by possums across its network, of which 13 were on Banks Peninsula. Duvauchelle was a particular hot spot.
Orion will sponsor Oscar Ashton, the new ranger, and a ute. The scheme is worth about $350,000.
Ashton will work for DOC and collaborate with the Christchurch City Council, Environment Canterbury, and the Banks Peninsula Conservation Trust, which also runs possum control efforts on the peninsula.
A mix of trapping, bait stations and poison will be used, depending on the specific situation.
Ashton will also run community trapping workshops for community groups and locals.
Thompson said ECan had been running possum control for some time, targeting one of five areas on the peninsula each year before moving onto the next. But DOC has not been able to keep pace as its funding dwindled.
DOC had ramped up its efforts in the last couple of years, and found possum numbers on the peninsula were higher than anticipated.
Several groups have signed on to Predator Free Banks Peninsula, which aims to see the area free of predators by 2050.
Thompson said it was 'possibly feasible' possums could be eradicated by then, but some kind of breakthrough technology would speed up the process.