Predator Free Wellington gets $7.6m funding boost

Monday, 7 September 2020

On The Detail, Sharon Brettkelly meets two people who are doing their best to help achieve New Zealand's Predator-Free 2050 goal. (Video first published November 2019)

The rain didn’t dim Conservation Minister Eugenie Sage’s smile as she announced a major funding injection for Wellington’s predator-free vision on Monday.

The additional $7.6m investment over the next five years was announced at Otari-Wilton’s Bush amid drizzle and bird song.

The investment was expected to create 42 new jobs. “This … will enable native plants and wildlife to thrive in Wellington,” Sage said.

The money is part of the 2020 budget and would come from Government company Predator Free 2050, matching a similar investment from Wellington City Council and Greater Wellington Regional Council.

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Conservation Minister Eugenie Sage announced a funding boost of $7.6 million in Wellington on Monday to supercharge the work of volunteers.

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Predator Free Wellington was running to a 10-year plan to eradicate pests in the Wellington region, but the new funding means the project can be fast tracked.

The new aim is to be the world’s first predator free capital city within the next five years, Predator Free Wellington Project Director James Willcocks said.

The plan is enabled by volunteers rigging traps in their backyards, something Willcocks said most people are happy to comply with.

The traps are provided for free by the project and serviced every week for months.

So far, 8477 traps have been deployed by volunteers and nearly 60,000 pests have been killed in the Wellington region so far.

Wellington Mayor Andy Foster said he was delighted with the funding allocation as part of the region’s ongoing natural restoration journey.

Conservation Minister Eugenie Sage and Mayor Andrew Foster are excited for Wellington’s ongoing natural restoration journey.

“It’s about keeping those birds safe and the populations of birds, insects and lizards growing,” Foster said.

Sage said New Zealand’s native species are part of who we are and the reason we are able to experience so many native birds every day is due to hard work.

“This is great news for a nature-loving city, enjoying the bounce-back of native species such as kākā and kākariki, tūī and tieke, some spilling out from Zealandia Sanctuary,“ Sage said.

The next stage of control would be completed across 19 suburbs, from Island Bay through to Kilbirnie and the CBD.

Foster said Miramar is the showcase of success at the moment and the methods used on the peninsula would be expanded across the rest of the city.

Wellingtonians had shown strong support for the project, she said, with 92 per cent of surveyed residents saying they were behind the effort.

Monday’s investment would enable traps and bait stations to be established on a comprehensive grid pattern, to maximise the likelihood that every target pest would encounter them.

Community liaison teams and other field staff would be hired as part of the project.

Additional phases of work would be done from Wellington Port via Zealandia to Te Kopahou, from Kaiwharawhara to Makara, then north to the city boundary at Porirua.