Future unclear for Taranaki’s world-class predator programme
The long-term future of the world leading initiatives to make Taranaki the country’s first predator free region could be at stake if Government funding stops, the regional council has warned.
In its draft long-term plan, now out for a month-long consultation, six key focus areas have been identified, including improving resource management, delivering on freshwater, adapting and mitigating climate change and the protection of indigenous biodiversity.
However, it was the future of Towards Predator Free Taranaki and possum eradication that was likely to garner the most interest.
The programme, which was heavily reliant on volunteer and community involvement, had helped create several notable conservation achievements, including the return of kiwi to the Kaitake Range in 2021.
In the draft plan, the future of Government funding of Towards Predator Free 2050, which runs out this year, was raised, given no commitment had been made.
Since 2018, the Crown-owned Predator Free 2050 Ltd had provided more than $15 million of funding to combat a range of predators in the region through its Towards Predator Free Taranaki programme.
The council had provided a further $3.2m, or $650,000 a year, to support three main initiatives.
They included the Rural Landscapes Predator Control Programme which worked with landowners with a phased roll-out of 25000-30,000 hectares per annum to suppress stoats, weasels and ferrets throughout the Taranaki ring plain.
It also included the Taranaki Urban Predator Control Programme to reduce possum and rat populations and the highly successful Zero Density Possum Control Programme which has seen 2000 hectares around Kaitake and Oakura become possum free for nearly two years.
“Without a firm commitment, we must determine how we will fund these initiatives,” the report said. “It is not feasible for us to fully cover the amount the Government has provided, so some tough decisions are required.”
If Government funding did not eventuate, council warned a “significant reduction” across the initiatives would be required.
Environmentalist and successful pest trap designer Nick Jones said the thought of such a reduction was a scary proposition.
“Collectively, the conservation industry has made some pretty huge gains,” he said.
“It’s put a lot of people into employment, it’s created opportunities that weren’t there before and it has made a huge difference to predator control.
“The effect this has had on the ground is massive in terms of biodiversity improvement.”
Jones warned de-escalating the work would see years of gains wiped out pretty rapidly, which would take a substantial amount of time to recover.
He said everyone in the industry was “hyper conscious” of what the Government’s next move would be.
“We are pretty nervous,” he said. “I ordered some springs from a supplier and he said just about every trap manufacturer in New Zealand is really quiet and awaiting the next move.”
Council chairperson Charlotte Littlewood said controlling predators to protect biodiversity was an area it was passionate about and it wanted to continue building on the achievements made.
“It’s vital work but comes at a high cost as it’s resource heavy to achieve results,” Littlewood said.
As well as the future of the programme, council had also put the future of the region’s possum control plan under the spotlight.
In the report, it said the self-help programme, which involved landowners taking responsibility for keeping the possum population down, was not proving effective enough.
“To address this, we are considering delivering possum control ourselves,” it said.
“While this approach would mean an increase in targeted rates, landowners would save the estimated $2 million per year they currently spend undertaking possum control themselves.”