Environment Group Backs Plan For 1000s of Traps

Environment Group Backs Plan to Put 1000s of Traps in the Field

A Coromandel conservation group is promoting a peninsula-wide pest control plan whereby rural property owners of both covenanted and uncovenanted land could partner with regional council to achieve improved environmental outcomes the toxin-free way.

The Upper Coromandel Landcare Association is calling for discounted bulk purchase of multiple-kill possum and rat traps by Waikato Regional Council, with the devices then being offered for repurchase by peninsula residents after a further council per-trap subsidy, or discount, is applied. The conservation group has been in discussion with manufacturer Goodnature and has confirmed with company management the availability of bulk purchase discounts and the possibility of additional purchase incentives such as free supplies for a large-scale peninsula trapping scheme.

According to UCLA spokesperson Reihana Robinson, the proposal is a win-win plan to meet both council’s strategic objectives and community aspirations -- utilising the field work of rural residents, the latest technology, and modest financial support from WRC to place an initial 1,000 gas-powered kill devices into the Coromandel bush.

The concept of bulk purchase discounts and council subsidies can easily be expanded to include other proven kill-trap devices, Robinson said.

“Council has the buying power, residents have the people power, and Goodnature has indicated it will come to the table. The plan is simple, safe, cost-effective, and environmentally friendly,” Robinson said. “WRC could bring the cost to residents of each self-resetting trap down to less than half the normal retail price through a combination of available manufacturer discounts and direct subsidies.”

According to Robinson, the modest funds required for WRC trap subsidies can be made available from the council’s multimillion-dollar annual pest control budget. “For starters, the upper Coromandel has not received its fair share of WRC pest control spending for years, as a result of local opposition to the council’s preferred use of toxins -- even in local watersheds. Meanwhile, the regional council has collected tens of thousands of dollars in targeted pest control rates from peninsula residents living on properties as small as two hectares -- dollars mostly spent elsewhere in the region. It’s time those rates are put to use here in a way the community can get behind.”

“The council’s significant purchasing power has never been applied to pest control on the Coromandel in a way that harnesses the good will and participation of individual property owners – residents who want to do their own control work, on their own properties, and off their own bat”, Robinson said. “Supporting and working cooperatively with individual residents will result in much greater environmental gains ­– achieved the Coromandel way.

ENDS

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