31 May 2017

PF2050 Ltd welcomes PCE’s bird report

The Chair of Predator Free 2050 Ltd’s Board has welcomed the Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment’s report on saving New Zealand’s birds.

Board Chair Jane Taylor says she is heartened by the strong endorsement of New Zealand’s goal to rid New Zealand of possums, rats and stoats by 2050 in the commissioner’s Taonga of an island nation: Saving New Zealand’s birds report, released today.

“Predator Free 2050 Ltd is responsible for directing a significant amount of Crown investment into the Predator Free 2050 programme, with a focus on breakthrough science and large-scale predator control initiatives.

“The independent oversight provided by this report is welcomed and will be influential in shaping our strategy.

“The report’s recommendations – which include sections on science, research and planning – are consistent with much of the company’s work to date and gives us confidence that we’re heading in the right direction.

“The company manages $1 million per year of Crown investment for breakthrough scientific research on predator eradication and one of our jobs is to match this funding with $2 million from other sources.

“We have already commissioned a draft science strategy to develop the breakthrough technology that the Government has acknowledged is necessary to achieve a predator-free New Zealand by 2050. We expect to make the strategy public later this year.

“Another of our key responsibilities is to manage $5 million per year of Crown funding for large-scale collaborative predator control projects, based on the company leveraging this with funding from other sources.

“We expect to announce our plans for identifying, selecting and funding large-scale predator control projects as the year progresses.”

Chair Taylor says the Board will carefully consider the commissioner’s report over the coming weeks and assess where the company can further align with the report’s recommendations.

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