Kiwis must change to achieve predator-free New Zealand, report warns

Monday, 20 May 2019

Conflicts, disagreements and poor planning could mean lost conservation opportunities for the Predator Free 2050 movement, conservation scientists have warned.

A new BioHeritage Challenge report released today says New Zealand could be pest-free in 30 years, but that will rely, at least in part, on more New Zealanders changing their behaviour.

Report author associate professor James Russell said currently, biodiversity meant different things to everyone.

'Not all New Zealanders wish to remove an introduced species, even when that species has negative effects on the environment.

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'One example is deer hunting – an important cultural and economic activity in many rural communities, despite the damage that deer cause in forested areas.'

Not all New Zealanders wish to remove an introduced species, even when that species has negative effects on the environment, like deer.

Predator Free New Zealand wants collective, national-scale action.

The impact of human activities and invasive mammalian predator introductions has led to the extinction of more than 40 percent of the country's terrestrial bird species.

Of bird species that remain today, roughly one-third are in serious trouble with a further half in some trouble.

Similarly, one-third of reptiles are in decline.

This stoat killed at least seven native seabird chicks in burrows on Karioi Maunga, near Raglan.

But despite urgency outlined by conservation groups, the report warns that merely caring about the environment was not translating in to behavioural changes.

'It has repeatedly been shown that knowledge and caring for an issue rarely translate into behaviour change.'

The report says there needs to be a widespread social acceptance of predator control plans, including which methods are used.

A 'great many New Zealanders' needed to change their behaviour.

The Predator Free goal might not be achieved with the backing of all New Zealanders, the report warns.

The limits of the current technology being used in New Zealand were also outlined in the report.

Many factors in future decision making may 'significantly favour the release of gene-drive modified animals'.

However, it warned failure to consider the social, cultural and ethical risks could be detrimental.

'The decision making process and the institutions responsible for making those decisions might lose their legitimacy in the eyes of the Aotearoa New Zealand population and the world.'

The report follows two years of deliberation by an expert bioethics panel, which found achieving a predator free New Zealand is as much about people as it is about technology.

Preparing the report, the panel also considered lessons from other ambitious projects of a national scale, including vaccination programmes, compulsory seatbelts, and nuclear-free and smoke-free Aotearoa.

Russell said the goal cannot be achieved without collective, national-scale action.

'To obtain the backing of New Zealanders, there needs to widespread social acceptance of predator control plans, including which methods are used.'