\n Date:\u00a0\u00a029 July 2026
\n Source:\u00a0\u00a0Office of the Minister of Conservation
\n <\/p>\n
The investment follows $5.5 million for Wellington and $10 million for Auckland, building momentum behind proven predator-free projects across New Zealand.<\/p>\n
\u201cTogether, this work demonstrates what can be achieved when the Government backs successful local projects and helps take them to the next level,\u201d Mr Potaka says.<\/p>\n
Predator Free Dunedin has already successfully removed possums from the Otago Peninsula.<\/p>\n
The new three-year investment will support the removal of stoats, feral cats and possums from Port Chalmers to Orokonui Ecosanctuary, the Aramoana Peninsula, and north to Blueskin Bay.<\/p>\n
It will also help protect the Otago Peninsula\u2019s possum-free status through stronger biosecurity, monitoring and rapid responses to predator incursions.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis means more protection for native wildlife, stronger biodiversity and more opportunities for locals and visitors to enjoy Otago\u2019s natural environment,\u201d Mr Potaka says.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are backing projects with proven results, strong public support and the potential to provide a model for other parts of New Zealand.<\/p>\n
\u201cPredator Free Dunedin\u2019s success has been built through years of work by Iwi, volunteers, landowners, researchers, conservation groups, project leaders and partners including the Department of Conservation.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis investment backs that success and helps build the next chapter of Predator Free 2050.\u201d<\/p>\n
The project will also trial AI-enabled traps, improved predator detection and new rapid-response technology.<\/p>\n
Contact<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Date:\u00a0\u00a029 July 2026 Source:\u00a0\u00a0Office of the Minister of Conservation The investment follows $5.5 million for Wellington and…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":549698,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[111,43,139,69],"class_list":["post-549697","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-zealand","tag-new-zealand","tag-news","tag-newzealand","tag-nz"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/549697","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=549697"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/549697\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/549698"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=549697"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=549697"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=549697"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}