Farming native wildlife: Could commercialisation boost conservation efforts?

Weka are protected and considered a vulnerable species. Photo / Greg Bowker

By Gianina Schwanecke of RNZ

Could farming native wildlife, such as the weka, be the key to helping boost their numbers?

That’s the focus of a recent research paper by a Victoria University of Wellington graduate who looked at how commercialising native species might help with conservation.

Dray Mark said he first got the idea to look into this strategy after reading an old news article about a South Island farmer trying to farm and sell weka.

Also known as the Māori or bush hen, there is a history of weka having been eaten in the past.

However, weka are protected and considered a vulnerable species - there are thought to be between 70,000 to 120,000 weka.

“The weka is an interesting species in New Zealand because it’s not quite endangered as other native species like the kākāpō or takahē.”

He said New Zealand’s conservation efforts were at a “crossroads”, with mounting ecological and funding challenges, requiring some number

“From an economic and institutional perspective, commercialisation presents an opportunity for self-sustaining species management through strategic resource redistribution throughout the conservation sector.”

In international examples, such as buffalo in parts of Southern Africa and alligators in the United States, Mark said commercialisation had ultimately led to an increase in numbers for those animals.

However, commercialisation could also lead to further population decline, like the overfishing of North Atlantic Cod off the coast of Newfoundland, Canada.

Locally, he also drew from the tītī or muttonbird harvest experience; Rakiura Stewart Island whanau and hapū are able to harvest muttonbird between April 1 and May 31 each year.

Though they are primarily harvested for cultural or customary purposes, they can also be sold commercially.

Mark said it had worked “quite successfully”, noting the importance of any commercialisation aligning with Māori perspectives on the practice and the Treaty of Waitangi.

“It is the most distinctive example of ongoing sustainable native bird harvest in New Zealand.”

Mark said that commercialisation offered a way for many different groups in New Zealand to become directly involved in conservation, including Māori, landowners and hunters.

It could also allow for both conservation and economic gains, he said.

He said a more detailed analysis would need to be worked through before such a policy was enacted.

- RNZ