Pest species (including both pest animals and plants) are an increasing challenge for farmers and land managers across New Zealand. In the Taiari / Taieri catchment – where productive farmland underpins community wellbeing – effective pest control is essential to protecting productivity, land, water and biodiversity.
In New Zealand, a pest is any animal or plant that harms the environment, economy, or our cultural values – especially invasive species that threaten native biodiversity and/or farm productivity.
At the same time, it’s important to acknowledge that some pest species also have recreational or practical value. Deer and pigs, for example, are valued by hunters and provide a source of kai for many. Similarly, some willow species can play a role in erosion control and shade. Effective pest management needs to strike a balance, ensuring management efforts are grounded in local values and community priorities.
In recent years, populations of critical pest species have increased in several regions, as reported by both farmers and the Department of Conservation. Their impacts reach beyond agriculture – affecting biodiversity, slowing native regeneration, reducing carbon storage potential, and threatening future opportunities through the Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) and biodiversity credit systems.
Now more than ever, it’s important to keep the pressure on. Gains made by groups like OSPRI in possum control are significant – but without continued collective effort, these gains may be lost. Lots of great work is already underway on some pest species, including by the Maniototo Pest Management company and the Central Otago Wilding Conifer Control Group. Can this work be further supported or expanded to other species or areas in the catchment?
The Healthy Taieri project has been actively building a clearer picture of pest issues across the catchment – surveying farmers, assessing opportunities for deer and possum management, and working with landowners and organisations that are active in pest and weed management to explore how a more coordinated approach could help pest management in the catchment.
In early 2025, we ran a pest survey across the upper and mid catchment to understand how farmers are managing pests and whether there is support for additional collective and coordinated approaches to pest control in the catchment. You can read the results of the pest survey here.
Based on the results of the survey, and discussions with a number of farmers and representatives of organisations involved in pest management, we’re now assessing the feasibility of a community managed pest control entity for the mid Taieri area, building off the experience of the Maniototo Pest Management Company. We will be contacting farmers in the area to understand their perspective – or feel free to get in touch with us directly.
Contact: Solis Norton on 027 555 2882 or solis.norton@whirika.co.nz.
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