Determined to make Hutt predator free
How do we make New Zealand predator free?
That was the central issue at a public meeting organised by National list MP Chris Bishop on Wednesday November 23.
National recently announced a plan to wipe out rats, possums and stoats by 2050.
Bishop said that was ‘‘ambitious’’ but New Zealand would reap enormous environmental, economic and social benefits.
It could not be achieved without widespread community sup- port and fresh ideas on pest control, he said.
Coromandel MP and Chair of the Local Government and Environment Select committee Scott Simpson compared the task of getting rid of rats, possums and stoats with settling Treaty of Waitangi claims.
When Doug Graham and Prime Minister Jim Bolger set out to settle all the treaty claims, no one believed it was possible. That process is now nearing completion and the country had to take on the next big challenge. I The success of projects such as Zealandia and the re-introduction of Kiwi to the Rimutaka Forest Park showed what was possible.
Getting the dawn chorus back required a concerted effort from central government, councils and community groups.
He warned eradication would be expensive and much of the technology required was yet to be invented.
Eastbourne trapper Sally Bain warned that conventional trapping had serious limitations. Pests quickly learned to outsmart traps, lose interest in lures and become tolerant to poisons.
New Zealand was a large country and without greatly improved technology, scientific solutions such as gene editing was probably the only way of getting rid of pests,
Petone Community Board member Mason Branch called for a sensible debate on cats
He trapped feral cats in Korokoro and it annoyed him that some organisations returned cats that had been desexed to the bush.
Bishop said his initial aim was to create a predator free Hutt Valley. That more than 100 people attended the meeting showed there was a real enthusiasm for taking the challenge on.
Wellington was committed to becoming predator free and the Hutt Valley could follow suit.