Excerpt from stuff.co.nz
A research partnership agreement worth $2.8 million has been signed to make Stewart Island predator free.
Manaaki Whenua – Landcare Research and Predator Free Rakiura have teamed up for the project that will run for four years, with the initiative to eradicate all major predators – possums, rats, feral cats and hedgehogs from Rakiura.
A predator eradication project of this combined size and complexity has never been attempted before.
This would be the biggest island predator eradication ever attempted globally and would also be a world-first predator free project on an inhabited island.
Rakiura is around 180,000 hectares in size and has a population of 400 permanent residents.
As a haven for native species, a predator-free Rakiura would protect those taonga for generations to come and enable nature and community to thrive.

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