Hunua 1080 project wins top award

Thursday, 28 July 2016

A controversial 1080 project has won a top environmental award.

Auckland Council's Hunua pest management project won the Local Government New Zealand's Excellence Award for Environmental Impact at the annual conference in Dunedin.

Judges praised last year's project as 'a well-planned and courageous initiative which achieved its objective to safeguard native wild life in the Hunua Ranges, while at the same time safeguarding the water supply to New Zealand's largest city'.

Council staff dropped 1080 baits on 21,500 hectares of land in the Hunua Ranges, surrounding reserves and some private land in a bid to control possums and rats.

Auckland councillor and Hunua Project advisory group chair George Wood says the award was the culmination of two years of hard work and 'a tremendous amount of support'.

'We are delighted that the Hunua Project has been recognised as an exemplar local government project.

'This was not about 1080 or the pests ravaging the Hunua Ranges. It was about the future of Auckland's largest mainland forest and the taonga that live within it.

'A truly collaborative project, we worked alongside iwi, the community, our colleagues at other councils, Watercare and Auckland Regional Public Health Service,' says Cr Wood.

Auckland Council parks, sports and recreation manager Mace Ward says the project has set the forest firmly on the road to recovery.

'We knew this was a bold move but, with thorough planning, not only did we get rat and possums numbers well below five per cent, we are seeing the kokako population booming and other important species thriving.'

'The judges mentioned courage and it is also important to note the leadership of our council and the Franklin Local Board who made a courageous decision to change the way we managed pests in the Hunua Ranges, and then supported council staff to get stuck in and get the job done.'