Project Taranaki Mounga investment welcomed

  • Maggie Barry
Conservation

Conservation Minister Maggie Barry has welcomed the launch of Project Taranaki Mounga, a major new partnership which has the potential to change the face of conservation in New Zealand.

“This is an exciting project with ambitious goals which will have a significant impact not only on Taranaki and its wildlife, but also for regional tourism, environmental education and the local economy,” Ms Barry says.

“It could become a model for other parts of the country to emulate in future as we strive towards the long-term goal of making New Zealand pest free.”

The project, worth $24 million over 10 years, is a collaboration between the NEXT Foundation, DOC, iwi and the Taranaki community.

Pest control and ecological restoration, including a plan to eradicate goats from the 34,000 hectare Egmont National Park, is the first priority.

If goats can be removed from Egmont, it would become the first National Park to be free of ungulates, as pigs and deer have already been removed.

Further significant investment in pest control will enable reintroduction of native species and strengthen existing populations of rare birds, animals and plants on Mt Taranaki.

“A successful whio/blue duck breeding programme, coupled with intensive pest control and monitoring, has seen a healthy population of 100 ducks established in the park in the last eight years,” Ms Barry says.

“We know that where pests can be removed native animals can thrive – Project Taranaki Mounga has the potential to create a vast new habitat for our precious threatened species, free of the threat of introduced predators.”