The Game Animal Council (GAC) is welcoming $30 million allocated in Budget 2022 to implement the Aotearoa New Zealand Biodiversity Strategy: Deer Management and Goat Control.

The funding, distributed over four years, will go towards initiatives that include regional and site-based planning and management to balance the ecological impacts of deer with the cultural, recreational and economic values that these game animals provide.

“In accordance with our statutory role, the Game Animal Council has been liaising with the Department of Conservation and other stakeholders around the future management of game animals in New Zealand and we are confident that a good balance will be struck that will provide positive outcomes for both conservation and hunting,” says Game Animal Council Chair Grant Dodson.

“Hunters want to hunt good quality animals in a healthy environment and in order to ensure that we must institute modern management practices that fit with New Zealand’s unique circumstances.”

“Recreational and commercial hunters as well as food gatherers are an important part of the game animal management equation and are in fact our greatest management resource. The Game Animal Council is committed to working alongside them to achieve good results for conservation and further develop New Zealand’s world class hunting opportunities,” says Dodson.

The NZ Game Animal Council is a statutory organisation responsible for the sustainable management of game animals and hunting for recreation, commerce and conservation.

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