​ Predators will be eliminated from a second block on the West Coast and the land defended from new predators without the use of fences.

Birds and bats could be threatened with local extinction if the Department of Conservation (DOC) cannot make more aerial 1080 drops this mega-mast season.
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Forest and Bird warns a plague of rats sweeping unchecked across parts of the country will be followed by an invasion of stoats by spring.

When I last visited a forest frequented by orange-fronted parakeet/kākāriki karaka, there was quiet optimism.

Kiwi, kakapo, Maui dolphin - and even the great White shark-feature on a list of 150 New Zealand species "prioritised" in an ambitious conservation strategy launched by the government this morning.
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The Department of Conservation's new Threatened Species Strategy hinges greatly on already-announced moves under the Predator Free New Zealand (PFNZ) plan to purge the country of pest predators by 2050.

Parliamentary Commissioner for the environment Dr Jan Wright's new report, Taonga of an Island Nation: Saving New Zealand's Birds, released last week, highlighted the "tragic" state of many native birds.

And the picture was no more encouraging in Northland, according to Northland conservation advocate for Forest & Bird, Dean Baigent-Mercer.
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"A regional priority needs to be turning around the state of the collapsing native forests across the North, including the aerial use of 1080, expanding pest control along coastlines, including dog control on beaches, and resuscitating wetlands," he said.

Kiwi, kakapo, Maui dolphin - and even the great White shark-feature on a list of 150 New Zealand species "prioritised" in an ambitious conservation strategy launched by the government this morning.
​
The Department of Conservation's new Threatened Species Strategy hinges greatly on already-announced moves under the Predator Free New Zealand (PFNZ) plan to purge the country of pest predators by 2050.

The loss of our native birds from the wild has been revealed in its full extent for the first time, with a bleak and sweeping stock-take showing major hits for most endemic species.

But keeping our birds in large numbers can be achieved for a realistic price, says the Landcare Research scientist who has presented the startling figures to top ecologists.

A comparison of monitoring data, collected over periods in the 1970s and early 2000s, showed significant falls in well-known species such as brown kiwi, kokako, Kaka, rifleman, tomtit and blue duck, or whio.

View original story from Jamie Morton, NZ Herald here

Forest & Bird congratulates the New Zealand police for making an arrest as part of their investigation into a 1080 threat to infant formula late last year.
” This threat wasn't just a challenge for our dairy industry and exports, it also had the potential to damage our ability to control introduced predators that are killing our native wildlife, " explained Kevin Hackwell, Group Manager of Campaigns and Advocacy at Forest & Bird.