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Wellington, June 23, 2018
Conservation Minister Eugenie Sage has announced funding for the first step in New Zealands most ambitious island pest eradication.
Speaking at Forest and Birds 2018 Conference, she committed $2 million over the next three years to complete planning, including field trials, towards making sub-Antarctic Auckland Island predator free.
Ambitious Project
This is an ambitious project on the 46,000 ha Auckland Island and a major step towards the goal of New Zealand being predator free by 2050. The funding will allow greater understanding of the scale and complexity of the problem and help guide decisions about eradicating pigs, cats and mice from Auckland Island, she said.
Ms Sage said that any decision to proceed will require a long-term commitment of resources and effort. Early estimates suggest the potential cost of eradication may be in the order of $40 million to $50 million over eight to 10 years.
Partners sought
The Department of Conservation is working closely with iwi partner Ngi Tahu and will be seeking other partners to collaborate on the project, Eugenie Sage said.
Introduced pigs and cats have devastated Auckland Islands native wildlife and plants. Mice are also a problem by competing for food with native birds, and attacking seabird chicks.
Most of the native birds that were once abundant on Auckland Island have disappeared from the main island and now exist only on the surrounding pest-free islands.
These include the Auckland Islands snipe, Auckland Island rail and Auckland Island teal.
Eradicating these pests from New Zealands fifth-largest island would see Auckland Island become the countrys largest pest-free island. It would complete the removal of introduced predators from all of New Zealands sub-Antarctic islands, cementing our reputation as a world leader in predator control, Ms Sage said.
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Photo Caption:
Pigs nesting amongst white-capped mollymawks
(Supplied)
