Wellington set to become first predator-free city by 2050

Wellington will become the first city to reach predator-free status.

Conservation Minister Tama Potaka has announced the Government’s plans for the next phase of Predator Free 2050, which includes a $5.5 million investment in the capital.

“This isn’t just about the environment, but it’s the environment and the economy working together with society and culture,” Potaka told the Herald.

This new phase of Predator Free 2050 will focus on scaling up predator elimination across the country and building on the 9000 community trapping projects that are currently underway.

Potaka said that would involve using improved technology to move away from local projects and towards a larger, sustained effort.

For Wellington, that will mean extending predator control throughout the entire city, with more traps, monitoring and action on the ground, he said.

“This is a co-ordinated push across the whole city.

“Practical action that people will notice in their neighbourhoods, with more native species returning and thriving.”

Part of this next phase involves the Department of Conservation investing $5.5m into Predator Free Wellington over the next five years, in partnership with Capital Kiwi and Zealandia Te Māra a Tāne.

Predator Free Wellington chair Tim Pankhurst said the investment was a “significant vote of confidence” in the project, at a time when money was “tight and sharply contested”

Pankhurst said the funding provided the long-term security needed to scale the project across the city.

The money would help make Wellington Zoo rat-free and help Predator Free Wellington tackle dense urban areas like Hataitai, Island Bay and Ōwhiro Bay.

“When you see no more possums, rats, stoats, weasels, ferrets and feral cats around, that’s when we’re going to call it predator-free,” he told the Herald.

The operation will target introduced predators across 18,500ha, which Potaka said will benefit more than 200,000 residents and 20,000 businesses.

“We are committed to backing our environment and our economy at the same time.”

Potaka said going predator-free in the capital would help grow conservation-based tourism and support jobs.

“People aren’t coming to New Zealand to see feral cats or possums.

“They are coming into the country to enjoy our iconic scenery, but also get a taste of nature at its finest.”

Potaka said the capital would serve as a case study, which would show how predator-free efforts could be replicated more widely.

“Wellington has shown strong results and strong community backing, but it also gives us an opportunity to scale work up and demonstrate what a citywide approach might mean.”

Janhavi Gosavi is a Wellington-based journalist for the New Zealand Herald who covers news in the capital.