PHOTO: L-R: Tina Winder, Community Trapper, Andy Mentor, Coordinator, Kiwi Coast Trust, and Mike Knight, Biosecurity Officer (now retired), Northland Regional Council. Image supplied by Northland Regional Council.
Eradicating predators from three main peninsulas
Predator Free Bay of Islands is a proposed landscape-scale, community-led predator control and eradication project that will play a key role in a regional vision for a predator free Taitokerau.
It will work alongside existing pest control programmes across the three main peninsulas (13,728 ha) within the Bay of Islands; Purerua Peninsula (about 7600ha), Russell Peninsula (3000ha) and Cape Brett/Rākaumangamanga (3000ha), and will also establish sustained predator control, with a pathway to eradication, in the 80,000-plus hectares that make up the wider Bay of Islands.
| Launched | July 19, 2021 |
| PF2050Ltd investment | $4 million |
| Total project investment | $15 million (including in-kind community contributions |
| Funding commitment | 5 years |
| Project lead | Northland Regional Council |
| Māori partners | Multiple groups |
| Collaborators | Northland Regional Council,in partnership with iwi/hapu, Department of Conservation, Nga Whenua Rahui, Kiwi Coast Trust, community, landcare groups and others. |
| Ambition | Completely remove predators from peninsulas within the Bay of Islands. |
| Design | Work with iwi and hapū, landowners, community groups and agencies to engage with the community, developing a collaborative project plan, and feasibility investigation to guide where eradication objectives can be achieved, followed by the development of technical eradication plans and then implementation. |