New Zealand tolls death knell for predators in bid to stem extinction rates

The New Zealand government Monday declared it was launching the world's most ambitious conservation project with the aim of eradicating introduced predators by 2050.

The goal would be to provide a safe environment for the country's unique and seriously threatened birds and trees, Prime Minister John Key said in a published speech at a wildlife sanctuary in Wellington.

"While once the greatest threat to our native wildlife was poaching and deforestation, it is now introduced predators," Key said.

"Rats, possums and stoats kill 25 million of our native birds every year, and prey on other native species such as lizards and, along with the rest of our environment, we must do more to protect them."

Key said the introduced pests also threatened the national economy and primary sector, with the total economic cost estimated at around 3.3 billion NZ dollars (2.3 billion U.S. dollars) a year.

"That's why we have adopted this goal. Our ambition is that by 2050 every single part of New Zealand will be completely free of rats, stoats and possums," he said.

"This is the most ambitious conservation project attempted anywhere in the world, but we believe if we all work together as a country we can achieve it."

The government would invest an initial 28 million NZ dollars (19.54 million U.S. dollars) in a new joint venture company called Predator Free New Zealand Ltd. to drive the program alongside the private sector.

This funding was on top of the 60 million to 80 million NZ dollars (41.87 million to 55.8 million U.S. dollars) the government already invested in pest control every year and millions more contributed by local government and the private sector.

Predator Free New Zealand, to be established by early next year, would be responsible for identifying large, high-value predator control projects and attracting co-investors to boost their scale and success.

The government would look to match other funding on a one-for-two basis.

Conservation Minister Maggie Barry said that four goals for 2025 had been set for the project: an additional 1 million hectares of land where pests had been suppressed or removed; development of a scientific breakthrough capable of removing at least one small mammalian predator from New Zealand entirely; demonstrating that areas of more than 20,000 hectares could be predator free without the use of fences; and complete removal of all introduced predators from offshore island nature reserves.

"New Zealand's unique native creatures and plants are central to our national identity. They evolved for millions of years in a world without mammals and as a result are extremely vulnerable to introduced predators," Barry said in a statement.

"Now is the time for a concerted long-term nationwide effort to rid ourselves of the introduced rats, stoats and possums that have placed so much of our natural heritage in jeopardy."

Primary Industries Minister Nathan Guy said the project would have major positive impacts for farmers and the wider primary sector, which is central to New Zealand's economy.

"Possums and ferrets are the main carriers of bovine TB (tuberculosis), which is a very destructive disease for cattle and deer," Guy said in the statement.

The ministers said that while not all the technology to make New Zealand predator free existed yet, government research funding would have an important role in developing the science.

The Department of Conservation (DOC) estimates that 37 percent of New Zealand bird species are threatened with 25 species listed as critical, 18 as endangered and 34 as vulnerable.

"Extinction rates for birds in New Zealand are high 34 percent of endemic land and freshwater birds and 5 percent of sea birds," says the DOC website.

Environmental campaign groups, including WWF (World Wide Fund for Nature), welcomed the announcement and said they looked forward to working with the government on the project.

The pests were introduced to New Zealand with the arrival of European settlers, but in recent years DOC has succeeded in eradicating them from smaller offshore islands and in controlling them in some onshore reserves. Endit