A109 Light Utility Helicopter flight with mayor Gisborne City from the air in November 2023.
Opinion
The predator eradication opportunity provided by the narrow isthmus that connects the 14,500ha Mahia Peninsula to the mainland has been discussed for a couple of decades, according Wairoa’s regional councillor Fenton Wilson.
It is now set to become a reality, with the announcement this week that the first phase of
a four-year, $4.86m predator control project in Hawke’s Bay — backed by Predator Free 2050 Ltd, the regional council and other funders — will involve making Mahia possum-free.
Simultaneous possum eradication and feral cat, stoat and ferret suppression will involve wireless monitoring of live-capture traps — testing their value and application for helping farmers to participate in landscape-scale predator control. A large Para-Aminopropiophenone trial for mustelids and feral cats will test the cost-effectiveness of this toxin as an initial tool for reducing these predators on farmland. Rat control will also take place in bush areas on the peninsula, to deliver additional biodiversity and conservation gains, and to build knowledge on how to optimise farmland rat control.
Mr Wilson told the Wairoa Star the peninsula would be protected by a “virtual fence” of remote traps and monitoring. He also said there were already lower pest numbers on the peninsula because of the Whangawehi catchment restoration project’s pest control work.
An $11.7m grant from Predator Free 2050 Ltd was announced on May 30 for a collaboration between Taranaki Regional Council and rural landowners — with a total project budget of $47m over five years — to roll out across 4500 hectares of farmland surrounding the Taranaki/Egmont National Park. It builds on significant predator control work in the 34,000ha park, and the area will be defended from re-infestation by a network of intensive trapping.
