Te Rūnanga o Ngāi Tahu has signed an agreement with government and council groups towards a pest-free Banks Peninsula in Canterbury.
The iwi along with Banks Peninsula Conservation Trust, Department of Conservation, Christchurch City Council, Environment Canterbury said they’d work together to remove pests from the 115,000-hectare peninsula.
Conservation Minister Eugenie Sage says, “This is a significant step towards the vision of a pest-free Banks Peninsula and builds on decades of community-driven ecological restoration work.”
Sage says efforts have already been made to reduce possum and goat numbers in recent years including successful trapping programmes.
“Projects like Wildside, where intensive trapping over 13.500 ha has doubled the populations of kororā and tītī at the south-eastern side of Banks Peninsula, show the potential of a pest-free environment.”
The goal is to have eradicated pests in Banks Peninsula by 2050.