Latest news with #PredatorFree2050Ltd
Scoop
12-06-2025
- Politics
- Scoop
A Bold Dream Gets A Cut As Predator Free 2050 Ltd Is Disestablished
The environmental sector worries that the future of a predator-free Aotearoa is in jeopardy after the Government swung the axe in the latest budget. It was billed as a 'moonshot' for New Zealand's environment - a bold, world-leading goal launched by Sir John Key in 2016, aimed at eradicating rats, possums and stoats from our islands by 2050. The vision has been clear - bring back birdsong to every valley, protect the flightless kiwi, and restore what once thrived. But today, the future of Predator Free 2050 looks uncertain. Predator Free 2050 Ltd, the Crown-owned company established to drive and fund large-scale eradication and breakthrough science, is now being disestablished, as announced as part of Budget 2025. Funding for the company will cease by the end of the year, with its responsibilities shifted to the Department of Conservation (DOC), which the government says will reduce duplication, increase efficiency and save about $12 million. "People are now worried for this programme," Newsroom environment editor David Williams tells The Detail. "They say without ongoing funding, we will not only not go forward, but we will go backwards. This programme needs funding, and that's up to the government." The government insists the broader goal of predator eradication remains. But Dr Kayla Kingdon-Bebb, chief executive of WWF New Zealand, is not entirely convinced. "New Zealanders believe in the Predator Free 2050 dream, and we want the government to get behind them too. But I'm not sure this will happen. "I've not been seeing a lot of enthusiasm for environmental outcomes from this government, full stop. We describe the government's policy agenda as a war on nature, and I think it is disappointing that a previous National government got so strongly behind this moonshot objective, and this government does not seem to care so much." Both Williams and Kingdon-Bebb say the country has "overwhelmingly" backed the Predator Free 2050 initiative, allowing it to "come a long way, in a relatively short time". Already, predator-elimination projects cover more than 800,000 hectares. "This is a big amount of land," says Williams. "And the goal is big ... but they have done well. "They also said they wanted to fund scientific research, and 15 or 20 projects have already had money to try and sort this problem out. "A lot of community groups have latched on to this - someone said to me that this is the one conservation project that has captured the imagination of New Zealanders more than any other." Kingdon-Bebb agrees. "It has certainly captured the hearts and minds like nothing else," she says. "We have seen an explosion of community trapping groups and landscape-scale projects over the last nine years, which has been amazing ... now I feel the government is taking its foot off the pedal. "What is apparent is that the government has had a look at the delivery model of the programme as a whole, which is complex. "So, if it is the case that the government has reviewed it and determined that a crown-owned corporation is not the best delivery methodology, I can accept that. "DOC has a lot of capability ... and perhaps it is appropriate for DOC to be coordinating this work, perhaps there was duplication of roles and functions and costs. "But where I would be concerned is that in the wider scale of what has happened in the last two budgets, the Department of Conservation will see, in total, about 300 million dollars in savings exacted from it. "So, it does beg the question whether a very stretched department can pick up the leadership of this initiative in a way we would want to see it done." Critics say that move will slow momentum, bury innovation under bureaucracy and confuse local projects already stretched thin. They also argue that across the country, hundreds of predator-free community groups, many driven by volunteers, will be left wondering what support will look like without the company's funding, research backing and strategic oversight. But the government insists the predator-free projects and contracts funded by the company are not affected and it is committed to the predator-free 2050 goal. Check out how to listen to and follow The Detail here.
Newsroom
11-06-2025
- Politics
- Newsroom
What happened to Predator Free 2050?
It was billed as a 'moonshot' for New Zealand's environment – a bold, world-leading goal launched by Sir John Key in 2016, aimed at eradicating rats, possums, and stoats from our islands by 2050. The vision has been clear – bring back birdsong to every valley, protect the flightless kiwi, and restore what once thrived. But today, the future of Predator Free 2050 looks uncertain. Predator Free 2050 Ltd, the Crown-owned company established to drive and fund large-scale eradication and breakthrough science, is now being disestablished, as announced as part of Budget 2025. Funding for the company will cease by the end of the year, with its responsibilities shifted to the Department of Conservation, which the Government says will reduce duplication, increase efficiency, and save about $12 million. 'People are now worried for this programme,' Newsroom environment editor David Williams tells The Detail. 'They say without ongoing funding, we will not only not go forward, but we will go backwards. This programme needs funding, and that's up to the Government.' The Government insists the broader goal of predator eradication remains. But Dr Kayla Kingdon-Bebb, the chief executive of WWF New Zealand, is not entirely convinced. 'New Zealanders believe in the Predator Free 2050 dream, and we want the Government to get behind them too. But I'm not sure this will happen. 'I've not been seeing a lot of enthusiasm for environmental outcomes from this Government, full stop. We describe the Government's policy agenda as a war on nature, and I think it is disappointing that a previous National government got so strongly behind this moonshot objective, and this Government does not seem to care so much.' Both Williams and Kingdon-Bebb say the country has 'overwhelmingly' backed the Predator Free 2050 initiative, allowing it to 'come a long way, in a relatively short time'. Already, predator-elimination projects cover more than 800,000 hectares. 'This is a big amount of land,' says Williams. 'And the goal is big … but they have done well. 'They also said they wanted to fund scientific research, and 15 or 20 projects have already had money to try and sort this problem out. 'A lot of community groups have latched on to this – someone said to me that this is the one conservation project that has captured the imagination of New Zealanders more than any other.' Kingdon-Bebb agrees. 'It has certainly captured the hearts and minds like nothing else,' she says. 'We have seen an explosion of community trapping groups and landscape-scale projects over the last nine years, which has been amazing … now I feel the Government is taking its foot off the pedal. 'What is apparent is that the Government has had a look at the delivery model of the programme as a whole, which is complex. 'So, if it is the case that the Government has reviewed it and determined that a Crown-owned corporation is not the best delivery methodology, I can accept that. 'DoC has a lot of capability … and perhaps it is appropriate for DoC to be coordinating this work, perhaps there was duplication of roles and functions and costs. 'But where I would be concerned is that in the wider scale of what has happened in the last two budgets, the Department of Conservation will see, in total, about 300 million dollars in savings exacted from it. 'So, it does beg the question whether a very stretched department can pick up the leadership of this initiative in a way we would want to see it done.' Critics say that move will slow momentum, bury innovation under bureaucracy, and confuse local projects already stretched thin. They also argue that across the country, hundreds of predator-free community groups, many driven by volunteers, will be left wondering what support will look like without the company's funding, research backing, and strategic oversight. But the Government insists the predator-free projects and contracts funded by the company are not affected, and it is committed to the predator-free 2050 goal. Check out how to listen to and follow The Detail here. You can also stay up-to-date by liking us on Facebook or following us on Twitter.
Newsroom
26-05-2025
- Business
- Newsroom
‘It was a bombshell': Govt culls pest eradication company
'This is the most ambitious conservation project attempted anywhere in the world,' Prime Minister John Key said in July 2016. 'But we believe if we all work together as a country we can achieve it.' Key announced the 'world-first' project for New Zealand to become predator free – free of rats, stoats and possums – by 2050. Conservation researcher Marie Doole, who back then worked as a senior policy analyst at Environmental Defence Society, says it was a rushed undertaking. 'John Key went and announced it, and then it was like, right, how do we do this?' By November 2016, Predator Free 2050 Ltd had been formed to funnel money into landscape-scale projects, and technological advances. Its initial budget was $28 million over four years. Conservation Minister Maggie Barry said at the time: 'This company and its leadership will be absolutely integral to the success of the Predator Free 2050 programme.' Fast-forward to Thursday's Budget, and the National-led coalition Government dropped the bombshell Predator Free 2050 Ltd was being disestablished, swept away in a cost-cutting drive. The timing of the cut was curious, as it's in the middle of the Government's strategy review of Predator Free 2050, submissions for which close on June 30. It was also announced on the international day for biological diversity. Predator Free 2050 Ltd chief executive Rob Forlong confirms he and 13 staff, and its four directors, were told the same day as the Budget. 'It was a bombshell for us and for the company itself' Jessi Morgan, Predator Free New Zealand Trust Conservation Minister Tama Potaka says closing the company will save $12.6m in operating costs over four years. 'The predator-free projects and contracts funded by the company are not affected,' Potaka says. 'We are committed to the predator-free 2050 goal.' Management of the programme will shift to the Department of Conservation, reducing duplication and increasing efficiency, the minister says. Doole, who now runs her own research firm, Mātaki Environmental, says the head-whirling nature of the announcement reminded her of 2016. 'It'd just be nice if these things weren't just dropped out of thin air.' Confusingly, there's a charity called Predator Free New Zealand Trust, which supports communities, iwi, families and individuals with advice and encouragement. Trust chief executive Jessi Morgan – daughter of entrepreneur Gareth – says it works closely with the soon-to-be-closing company. 'They're almost like a sister organisation.' Morgan found out about the company's closure on Thursday afternoon, when the Budget announcements were made public. 'It was a bombshell for us and for the company itself, and we really feel for all the people that are involved and affected by it, because it's pretty brutal to lose a job like that.' The Government has reassured the trust it isn't stepping back from the mission. Potaka says all projects contracted to 'PF2050 Ltd' will continue. Morgan says: 'That gives us a bit of hope but losing the company itself is a bit gutting.' How has the news landed with conservation groups? It hasn't sparked an outcry. Perhaps the sector is getting used to bad news, given job cuts at DoC and savings demands on the department paired with public fundraising campaigns. (The Budget revealed the department is set to reap tens of millions of dollars because of an increase in the international visitor levy, but, despite that, it's closing the Nature Heritage Fund, saving $5.2m, and reducing policy work to save $1.8m. The budget for community conservation funds will drop from $21.5m to $11.6m.) Duncan Toogood, group manager of enabling services at Forest & Bird, accepts there's an argument of administrative duplication between the company and DoC, and it wants a smooth transition. WWF-New Zealand chief executive Kayla Kingdon-Bebb says of the company's closure: 'It's an acknowledgement that the model of delivery through a Crown-owned corporation was not fit for purpose.' Folding the work into DoC isn't necessarily a bad thing, but she wonders if there are deeper cuts on the way to the wider predator-free programme. 'That's not clear to me from the Budget papers.' 'It really has captured the hearts and minds of New Zealanders, perhaps more than any other conservation initiative' Kayla Kingdon-Bebb, WWF-NZ Gary Taylor, chair and chief executive of Environmental Defence Society, was sceptical of the programme being led by a company, rather than a charitable trust. But pest management is critical, he says. 'It's got to be done well, it's got to be done at scale – and preferably at an expanding scale. And whether this new configuration will enable that or not is very much an open question.' Doole, the independent researcher, believes Predator Free 2050 Ltd's closure will ripple through conservation, with potential unintended consequences. 'There's not really been any opportunity to talk about how it might roll out – it's come as a bit of a shock.' Managing large projects will, she suggests, require a lot of effort from DoC – an organisation that's already struggling to fulfill its broad mandate, with a huge backlog of maintenance and upgrades, and chronically overworked staff. It's questionable, Doole says, whether DoC can deliver the predator-free 2050 programme more efficiently than the company. 'It's a pretty messy scenario.' Possums, introduced from Australia in the 19th century, consume an estimated 21,000 tonnes of vegetation per night. Photo: Department of Conservation Sia Aston, the department's deputy director-general of public affairs, says about $70m a year is being spent on predator free, in total, but time-limited funding under Jobs for Nature ($76m) and the Provincial Growth Fund ($19.5m) has run out. DoC's funding for predator free was unchanged in the Budget, she says. The costs of managing Predator Free 2050 Ltd's projects and contracts will be absorbed into DoC's baseline. Once the company's wound up, $2.3m will be transferred to the department 'to avoid disruption to the valued work underway', Aston says. 'As the Government's lead agency for PF2050, the additional work of funding predator-free groups, providing technical support, collaborating, and investing in innovative technologies fits within DoC's role and skillset.' Has Predator Free 2050, the company, achieved what it was set up to do? Forlong, the chief executive, says it has supported and funded some very successful projects. 'These include landscape-scale, predator-elimination projects, the creation of new tools for predator removal, and scientific research.' A 2016 Cabinet paper, outlining the 2050 ambition, said the Government agreed to four interim goals to be achieved by this year. Progress, noted in brackets, comes from the company's 2024 annual report. The goals were to: increase by 1 million hectares the area of mainland New Zealand where predators are suppressed (84 percent achieved); demonstrate predator eradication can be achieved in mainland areas of at least 20,000ha, without using fences (more than tripled to 71,000ha); eradicate all mammalian predators from island nature reserves (progress not mentioned); develop break-through science solutions capable of eradicating at least one small mammal predator from the mainland (not mentioned, but 15 new tools are helping to rid farmland of pests). 'We have come a long way, in a relatively short time,' Forlong says. 'All up, landscape-scale predator-elimination projects supported by PF2050 Ltd cover just over 800,000 hectares,' Forlong says. By the end of March, the company had contributed $92m to its 18 major projects, while communities had contributed more than $167m – but not always in cash, that figure includes in-kind contributions and volunteer hours. It's backing 18 major projects, three of them iwi-led, with 130,000ha in the 'defence phase'. 'The defence phase is when the project considers it has removed all resident animals of the target species and is defending the area against re-invasion.' In all, Predator Free 2050 Ltd has funded and supported the development of 20 new and improved predator elimination tools. What's Forlong's message to the Government, about carrying on their work? 'We are pleased that the discussion document for the new PF2050 strategy includes a focus area of 'defending the gains'.' Kingdon-Bebb, of WWF, says there's been an explosion of community-based trapping groups and nature restoration initiatives since 2016, thanks to the 2050 goal. 'It really has captured the hearts and minds of New Zealanders, perhaps more than any other conservation initiative.' She picks out Capital Kiwi Project, and Predator Free Wellington's elimination of rats, stoats and weasels from Miramar Peninsula, as notable successes which have wildly expanded bird life. (Another major recipient was Pest Free Banks Peninsula, which has cleared possums from almost 10,000ha in and around Akaroa.) 'It would be really disappointing to see the National Party back away from this initiative, which they themselves launched, purely with a view to cost-cutting. Say what you will about the company, one way or the other, the movement itself is making ground.' Morgan, Predator Free New Zealand Trust's boss, says she's a fan of a laser-focused organisation focused on pest control. The risk of DoC absorbing the work is it won't get the attention required. 'I don't completely understand the logic behind [closing the company] but hopefully there was some.' Doole, the independent researcher, says Predator Free 2050 Ltd will close as biodiversity is in deep trouble. 'We've got so much that's on the brink, and what we really needed was a concerted and strategic effort to boost nature protection.'
