February 27, 2020 11:27 am
It was great to see the Waiheke trapping network going live this week. 1500 traps have been set across the island on a six-hectare grid designed to eradicate every stoat. Working at this scale and intensity is what Predator Free 2050 Limited funding allows. …more
February 21, 2020 2:08 pm
There are big smiles on the factory floor at NZ Autotraps in Whakatane. A grant from the Provincial Growth Fund has enabled the fledgling company to move from a cramped storage unit in Hamilton to new premises in the Bay of Plenty town. …more
December 18, 2019 11:28 am
Andy Coster thought he’d retire early and enjoy more family time when he sold his market research company three years ago. But he soon hankered for another business challenge and decided to explore the potential of a patented air valve technology he’d been an early investor in.
Today he is CEO of Hammerforce with a hand-picked board of experienced directors, 17 staff based in Ponsonby, a nail gun on the market, a game-changing concrete gun on the way and ambitious plans to transform global industries. …more
October 14, 2019 11:53 am
The Hunua Ranges contain the largest tract of regenerating and mature native forest in the Auckland region. The view from a wooden platform on the summit of Mount Kohukohunui is stunning: over the Firth of Thames, the sanctuary islands of the Hauraki Gulf, across to the Manukau and down to the lakes of the Waikato. …more
August 12, 2019 3:26 pm
As I’ve travelled recently it’s struck me that conservation is coming home. For too long our success stories have played out on remote island settings, well out of the sight and involvement of the public. …more
June 13, 2019 2:27 pm
The countdown has begun. Miramar’s voyage to predator freedom begins in just weeks and traps are being laid out around the bays and valleys of 1000 ha peninsula.
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May 13, 2019 9:42 am
Last week, as part of a Predator Free 2050 Limited team trip out of the office, we joined the annual census of black petrel/ tāiko chicks on Great Barrier Island. We experienced what was once common around New Zealand. …more
April 28, 2019 1:16 pm
In February we called for expressions of interest in new funding to help deliver large landscape predator eradication projects and to fast track innovation. We’ve been over whelmed by the response. …more
April 4, 2019 2:18 pm
That was the question put to our inaugural Project Coordination Workshop held recently at Pukeiti Gardens in Taranaki. …more
March 7, 2019 11:17 am
When we think of Australia, its continental character springs to mind: vast deserts, bushland basins and fringing forest, farms and cities. New Zealand, much more of an island place. Yet, in rivalry stakes, Oz has us beaten even there.
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February 15, 2019 10:35 am
Over January I’ve managed to get around some of the new places that Predator Free 2050 Limited could potentially work in.
We’ve been flat out over the past year bedding down and entering final negotiations with the seven projects our first tranche of government funding has enabled. So, it was a welcome break to accept an invitation to the West Coast… …more
November 23, 2018 2:32 pm
More important pieces in the predator free jigsaw started to slide into place over the last month.
A Memorandum of Understanding was announced between parties wanting to pursue a pest free Banks Peninsula.
The first traps were laid to enable the return of kiwi to the hills around Wellington
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October 3, 2018 12:00 pm
I’ve been listening to contributors to Predator Free Dunedin. There’s a lot to get around. “We’ve been making good progress,” says Mark Hanger, President of Forest and Bird and local seabird champion, “but Predator Free 2050 has given us something to hang it all on. …more
September 16, 2018 5:00 pm
If we can do it on Waiheke, we can do it anywhere. That’s why we are contributing $2.6 million to an ambitious community-led project to rid the island of rats and stoats. Waiheke is a microcosm of the country. It celebrates diversity and is proudly independent. …more
