Farmers to defend our kiwis

Farmers to defend our kiwis

Federated Farmers welcomes the announcement by Conservation Minister Maggie Barry yesterday.

Federated Farmers Pest Management Spokesperson, Chris Allen says “$11.2 million will go a long way to help land owners to further protect our national bird.”

“Farmers are natural conservationists and with the government investing in further Kiwi breeding programmes on public and private land, farmers will be able to use their skills to raise and release many more kiwis into the wild.”

“A big part of the problem for the Kiwi population is pests such as rats, stoats and ferrets. Many farmers already undertake pest management programs at their own expense to combat local pest problems, and by working with the Crown, regional councils and others there is a much better chance of achieving pest suppression and reestablishment of the Kiwi population and its growth.”

“Farmers can find out how to get more involved through programs such as Kiwis for Kiwi, which is also receiving a $3.5 million boost in funding from the government. Programs like these have a great way of filtering down to the communities and any funding will be well used.”

“Farmers can become a part of the community effort by first of all finding out if they have wild Kiwi on their land, making sure any dog on their property has received Kiwi avoidance training and covenanting wetlands, native forest and shrub land.”

“Just last week the QE11 National Trust registered its 4000th covenant on private land nearly 40 years after the organisation's founder, Gordon Stephenson, became the first to place his land within this form of protection.”

Mr Allen encouraged farmers to look into all the opportunities available to them, including the funding for private landowners through the Biodiversity Condition and Biodiversity Advice funds as well as the Nga Whenua Rāhui (covenants) for Māori landowners.

“The Federation strongly supports the increase of funding to the Crown for this initiative. The Department of Conservation needs to use this funding to build on the initiatives of land owners and organisations like Kiwis for Kiwi while providing a safe habitat for our native bird.”

Mr Allen concluded “It is always encouraging to see the government getting behind such important matters as these. Part of that is ensuring we continue to explore other tools and new technologies to protect our nation’s native treasures.”

ends

© Scoop Media