Latest news with #predatorfree
RNZ News
3 days ago
- Business
- RNZ News
Predator Free 2050 committed to 'professional' transition as it hands over years of work to DOC
A stoat caught on a monitoring camera in Miramar Peninsula. Photo: Supplied / Predator Free Wellington Predator Free 2050 says it's committed to a "professional and smooth transition", as it hands over its responsibilities to the Department of Conservation following news of its disestablishment. A Crown-owned company, Predator Free 2050 Limited was set up in 2016 after the government set the ambitious goal of removing mustelids, rats and possums nationwide by the year 2050. For nearly a decade it co-funded large-scale predator elimination projects and supported science to achieve this goal by providing funding, resources and expertise to predator removal projects around New Zealand. But its disestablishment was announced on Budget Day last month, and science director Dan Tompkins said the company would be handing over its 18 active contracts by mid-August. "We'll take our time, we want to make sure that nothing is lost, we're ensuring all our learnings and understanding and insights into the way we have been running to achieve the advances that we've made to date [are passed on]." It was yet to be decided whether jobs at Predator Free 2050 Limited would go, or be amalgamated into DOC. He said the company's disestablishment had "not really" come as a surprise. "We've been working for seven to eight years now, and what we've been doing is we've been building a national mission. "I think our work, alongside that of DOC and the PFNZ Trust, has been really successful. We've shown it can be done, we've developed lots of new tools available for the job, we've got some good research coming along in the background for future tools to make it even more achievable." Did Tompkins have faith that the predator-free-by-2050 goal was achievable? "Completely," he said. "Already I think it's totally achievable - it's just whether we can afford it ." Chief executive Rob Forlong said many projects had proven eradication was achievable, and lately it had been focussing on how to make them cheaper, through new tools and solutions that could be scaled up. "We're committed to delivering a professional and smooth transition of contractual responsibilities to the Department of Conservation. This includes sharing proven strategies, roadmaps and insights." Predator Free 2050 chief executive Rob Forlong. Photo: Susan Botting / LDR DOC's deputy director-general for public affairs, Sia Aston, said the agency was committed to honouring all existing contracts. It already had a large existing programme of predator-free work and would "absorb the cost of managing the company's projects and contracts within its baseline". The remaining Crown funds of $2.3 million that PF2050 Ltd was allocated would be transferred to DOC and continue to be invested in predator free projects and contracts to avoid disruption. DOC is currently consulting with the public on its predator free strategy, with submissions closing on 30 June. Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero , a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
RNZ News
11-05-2025
- General
- RNZ News
Predator Free 2050: what next for the national pest eradication plan?
Towards Predator-Free Taranaki has eradicated 3500 possums between the Timaru Stream and the Hangatāhua (Stony) River since 2023. Photo: Towards Predator-Free Taranaki / supplied Rats, stoats and possums are being culled across hundreds of thousands of hectares, and the predator free by 2050 goal remains in sight. But what will the next phase of the project look like, as harder to reach areas are tackled, technology improves and funding becomes more difficult to secure. So far 757,000 hectares of land is covered by 18 projects overseen by Predator Free 2050 Limited - the Crown-owned company set up to deliver the 2050 goal. More than 100,000 hectares have been completely cleared of predators, including on Wellington's Miramar peninsula, with 71 percent more native birds counted in the country's capital in 2023 compared to 2018. Rob Forlong is the chief executive of Predator Free 2050 Limited, Al Bramley is the chief executive of Zero Invasive Predators and Brent Beaven is Department of Conservation Predator Free 2050 Manager.
RNZ News
11-05-2025
- General
- RNZ News
Predator Free 2050:
Rats, stoats and possums are being culled across hundreds of thousands of hectares, and the predator free by 2050 goal remains in sight. But what will the next phase of the project look like, as harder to reach areas are tackled, technology improves and funding becomes more difficult to secure. So far 757,000 hectares of land is covered by 18 projects overseen by Predator Free 2050 Limited - the Crown-owned company set up to deliver the 2050 goal. More than 100,000 hectares have been completely cleared of predators, including on Wellington's Miramar peninsula, with 71 percent more native birds counted in the country's capital in 2023 compared to 2018. Rob Forlong is the chief executive of Predator Free 2050 Limited, Al Bramley is the chief executive of Zero Invasive Predators and Brent Beaven is Department of Conservation Predator Free 2050 Manager. To embed this content on your own webpage, cut and paste the following: See terms of use.
