Recreational and commercial hunters have been asked to identify areas where game herds are at risk ahead of this year's large-scale aerial 1080 operation.

The call comes as the Department of Conservation prepare for the Battle for our Birds, a large-scale aerial 1080 operation to control rats and stoats in response to a beech mast event.
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It follows a similar campaign to control rats and stoats on public conservation land in response to a beech mast event due to heavy seedfall in 2014 and will be the largest pest control operation in New Zealand's history.

Via RadioNZ

1080 poison will be dropped over hundreds of thousands hectares this winter as part of the largest ever pest control operation in New Zealand.

The government has today announced $20.7 million of new operating funding as part of the 2015/16 budget.

Conservation Minister Maggie Barry said the country's largest pest control operation was being conducted to fight against the rise in the pest population expected over the winter months which threaten native wildlife.

Via Newstalk ZB
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New Zealand's largest ever pest control operation will be launched this winter in an effort to protect the country's vulnerable birds.
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In a pre-Budget announcement at the National Party conference in Auckland today, Conservation Minister Maggie Barry said $20.7 million in funding would be allocated to Battle for our Birds 2016.

As the Department of Conservation gears up for another large pest-control operation Samantha Gee finds out if the last one worked and what the future of predator control looks like.
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A small yellow insect-eating bird with a loud melodious call is what first drew Graeme Elliott into the world of New Zealand's native birds.

Elliott, a self-confessed "nerdy little birdy kid" was raised in Christchurch and spent family holidays in Nelson where he remembers climbing Mt Arthur to look across the huge expanse of Kahurangi National Park, and wonder what was out there.

Opinion: a new possum control effort across the Rimutaka Ranges aims to rid New Zealand of bovine tuberculosis, says Matthew Hall.

An aerial possum control operation is planned for the Southern Rimutaka Ranges this spring as part of the drive towards eventual eradication of bovine tuberculosis from New Zealand.

The operation proposed for September is supported by the Department of Conservation, and community consultation and public meetings have been scheduled to determine the exact size of the control area, water supplies and exclusion zones.
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The proposed area includes the East Harbour Regional Park where the Eastbourne forest rangers have been performing effective possum control since 1933, and the Orongorongo Valley, where community groups such as the Moa Conservation Trust have contributed enormously to supporting biodiversity with voluntary possum control. The wider Southern Rimutaka area has not been treated with an aerial operation before.

Potential "rodent plagues" across the country may prompt more large-scale drops of controversial poison 1080, just two years after the most wide-scale drop in New Zealand history.
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Early indications from the Department of Conservation (Doc) suggest that 2016 will be another beech mast year, in which seeds from flowering beech forests fall to the ground, attracting large numbers of rats and stoats.

The last mast, in 2014, was a one in 10-15 year event, and led to rodent invasions in Arthur's Pass and Nelson city. Masts typically occur every two to six years.

​The Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) has released its eighth annual report on the aerial use of 1080.
Findings are consistent with previous years and show the 1080 regime is working as intended with the benefits of using 1080 being seen while the risks are minimised.

It has been a long time coming but finally the Waikato Regional Council has taken a position on how it intends to use 1080 pest control methods.
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Councillors spent close to three hours debating their position on aerial drops of the possum control pellets at the final meeting of the year on Tuesday, before unanimously voting to support a statement of intent.

Via Stuff Environment

A Southland community landcare group's first 1080 drop has been hailed a success.
The Omaui Landcare Charitable Trust recently carried out a 1080 drop in a 200ha area of bush targeting possums, stoats, rats and feral cats.

Trustee John Collins said the 1080 drop was the first the group had done with pest control contractor Tony Leith.
"It was very successful," Collins said.

1080 is being credited with a breakthrough in the conservation of kokako in Auckland's Hunua Ranges.

For the first time ever, a pair of kokako have been nesting outside Hunua's intensively managed kōkako conservation area.

It follows Auckland Council's two 1080 drops over 21,500 hectares of conservation and forest land in the Hunua Ranges in August and September.