New Zealand conservationists are embarking on the largest attempt to eradicate introduced predators from an inhabited island.
Manaaki Whenua-Landcare Research has signed a $2.8 m partnership with Rakiura Stewart Island's conservation group, Predator Free Rakiura, to eradicate predators including possums, rats, feral cats and hedgehogs over the next four years.
Research programmes will be included in the project to better understand how pests proliferate and how best to manage them.
Rakiura is located off the South Island and is about 180,000 hectares, with a permanent population of 400 people and about 45,000 visitors a year.
The island is home to many vulnerable native species including native birds, geckos and bats, and has national parks, distinctive ecosystems, significant dunes and pristine freshwater systems.
The introduction of pests has affected its delicate flora and fauna, including the flightless national icon, the Kiwi and the lovable k k p the heaviest and only flightless parrot in the world.
Dean Whaanga, the co-chair of predator free s trust, Te Puka Rakiura Trust, said that Rakiura is in a state of puri or sadness.
On the surface, a visitor might see the beautiful treasure it is, but its true mana power and mauri essence will be recognised when the indigenous species return in numbers as seen by our ancestors, he said.
In M ori legend, Rakiura is also known as Te Punga o Te Waka the anchor stone of M ui s canoe the South Island from which he raised the great fish in the North Island. It will serve as a motif for anchoring the country to a nationwide predator-free goal.
What we learn here will lead to the whole country becoming predator free, Manaaki Whenua-Landcare Research said in a statement.
The acting chief executive, Fiona Carswell, said that working together with the trust and community is what will bring the institute's research to life. We relish working with local knowledge and approaches to achieve biodiversity aspirations for Rakiura. Similar predator-free projects have occurred around the world, including on the island of South Georgia, in the south Atlantic Ocean. Its rat eradication covered approximately 350,000 hectares, but the island's population is only 20 -- 30 people.
Rakiura has a much higher population and unless someone else gets there first, Predator Free Rakiura will be the largest predator eradication to date worldwide, with a community of this size Chris Jones of Manaaki Whenua told Stuff.
Sixty years ago, Forest and Bird members led the very first humble rat eradication on Maria Island in the Hauraki Gulf, which covers only one hectare, its spokesperson, Dean Baigent-Mercer, said.
It is incredible that New Zealand is studying the removal of all introduced predators off an island 180,000 times bigger.