Predator Free Dunedin will receive $3.9 million over the next three years to advance its predator elmination programme, support Predator Free 2050 goals and test approaches that can benefit conservation efforts across New Zealand.

The invesment from the Department of Conservation (DOC) will enable Predator Free Dunedin (PFD) to focus on eliminating feral cats, stoats and possums across a connected coastal and rural landscape stretching from Port Chalmers to Orokonui Ecosanctuary, towards Aramoana Peninsula and north to the Blueskin Bay area.

It will also underpin the continued maintenance of the possum-free status of Otago Peninsula by strengthening local biosecurity, enhancing detection and monitoring, and supporting rapid response when new predator incursions occur.

Together, these activities will protect existing gains and provide a practical test of how predator elimination can be achieved and sustained across real-world landscapes where communities, farmland and conservation areas meet.

PFD’s progress has always been built on the strong support and commitment of Ōtepoti/Dunedin residents — from backyard trapping and trapline volunteers to action in communities, on private properties and across the wider landscape.

That momentum has helped create the conditions for this next phase of work, and this funding will allow it to continue in key project areas. The result is a programme that is both locally grounded and nationally relevant.

DOC’s investment reflects confidence in PFD’s ability to deliver conservation outcomes at meaningful scale while generating knowledge that can support Predator Free 2050 initiatives nationally.

PFD will work closely with DOC on the delivery of the programme and ensure lessons and results are shared with other Predator Free projects.

A nationally significant programme Sally Peart, Chairperson of Predator Free Dunedin Trust, said the investment was a significant vote of confidence in PFD’s role within the national Predator Free 2050 movement.

“Predator Free Dunedin is more than a local conservation project. This investment will allow us to test and demonstrate approaches that could help accelerate predator elimination efforts elsewhere in New Zealand.”

“The Otago Peninsula has shown what long-term commitment, community support and innovation can achieve. This funding allows us to build on that experience and test how those lessons can be applied across a larger, more complex landscape.”

Partnership will remain central to the programme. Kāti Huirapa Rūnaka ki Puketeraki and Te Rūnaka o Ōtākou, communities, landowners, volunteers, DOC and partner organisations will continue to play a key role in shaping and delivering its success.

PFD Project Lead Rhys Millar said the value of the investment extended beyond the biodiversity outcomes achieved in Dunedin.

“We’ll be testing, measuring and refining our approach so that the evidence and learning from this investment can benefit projects around the motu working towards Predator Free 2050.”

“Success will be measured not only by the conservation gains we achieve here in Dunedin, but by the practical knowledge, partnerships and systems we can share with others working towards a predator-free future for New Zealand.” — Allied Media