OSPRI/DOC MEDIA RELEASE

Wednesday 7 December 2016

Southern Rimutaka pest control operation postponed

Unsettled spring weather has postponed a planned aerial possum control operation in the southern Rimutaka Ranges and East Harbour Regional Park until next year.

The decision to postpone was made after weather windows required to complete the operation before the high-use summer season were disrupted by a succession of wet and windy fronts. The postponement will ensure the operation can be undertaken to avoid the roar, the peak deer hunting season, and cause least disruption for trampers, dog-walkers and other Forest Park users.

The TBfree operation is delivered by primary sector service organisation OSPRI and supported by the Department of Conservation for its benefits to wildlife – restoring the native forest habitat that is home to kiwi – in the process of eradicating bovine tuberculosis from wildlife and farmed deer, beef and dairy cattle.

The biodiversity benefits of the possum control include killing the stoats and rats that predate on native birds, including the yellow-crowned parakeet kakariki and NZ falcon karearea, in this important area of indigenous forest.

The East Harbour component of the operation, between the Wainuiomata River and Wellington Harbour, is supported by the Greater Wellington Regional Council and will be undertaken in February 2017. The main operation, which covers the Orongorongo Valley and the Rimutaka Ranges adjacent to farmland in the southern Wairarapa, will be postponed until May/June 2017.

The biodiversity outcomes of an autumn operation will help maintain low rat and stoat numbers over the bird nesting period. The operation is part of the national plan to eradicate bovine tuberculosis (TB). Possums are the main transmitter of TB to cattle, and surveys have confirmed TB-infected possums in the forest park.

The operations are supported by the Department of Conservation for their biodiversity benefits – restoring the native forest habitat for significant populations of native birds. Parts of the southern Rimutaka Range have been treated before, however the Catchpool area near the Orongorongo Valley has not. A second aerial pest control operation in the Tararua Range as part of the Department of Conservation’s Battle for our Birds has also been postponed until after the holiday season.

A factsheet and maps offering detail of the operation can be found at ospri.co.nz

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