Pest Control

Forest and Bird, Issue 311, 1 February 2004, Page 3

Pest Control

deputy-

chairman, Maungatautari Ecological Island Trust.

—GORDON STEPHENSON,

I have admired the wonderful work done by Laurence Gordon for many years, and completely agree with his opinion that the ship rat is probably our Number One danger to native birds and, to a lesser extent, our plants. (Mailbag, November 03.) We must keep up with our pest control schemes, using to the full the voluntary efforts of sO Many community groups. I have to take issue with his closing remarks, however about ‘hugely expensive predator fences. A recent study of the costs and benefits of the fence we intend to put around Maungatautari [in south Waikato] comes up with some remarkable figures. Using DoC figures for pest control with poisons, as against the cost of a fence, with a life of

50 years, the pay-back time is only eight years, without taking any account of the ecological benefits. In other words, the incremental cost of conventional pest control exceeds the fence cost and the initial pest eradication within the fence, after a remarkably short time. Of course, the bigger the enclosure, the cheaper the cost of pest-proof fencing per hectare. In addition, the impact of total long-term pest exclusion is dramatic, and offers a safe refuge on the mainland for many of our vulnerable species. There is one additional benefit which our Trust puts a high priority on — the fence gives the opportunity for the public to experience the wonders of our flora and fauna in an abundance not seen on

the mainland for at least 150 years.