Photo: Mary WilliamsDestruction of the Catlins bush is a crisis demanding urgent pest control funding, conservationists and locals say. The calls are made as a community-led, ten-year strategic pest management plan is being prepared with $55,000 funding from Otago Regional Council. The Catlins plan, due in June and called the Invasive Mammal Plan, was one of the actions to come out of a Catlins Catchment Action Plan and will identify priority pests and areas to target. The preparation of the plan has been contracted to iwi-owned Catlins Pest Management. The dream of a fence after extensive pest control would require "long-term planning commitment and a source of continuous funding".

Source: Otago Daily Times March 10, 2026 16:07 UTC