17 February 2011

Minister Checks Possum Programmes Progress

Hawke’s Bay Regional Council will be hosting Hon David Carter, Minister of Agriculture, tomorrow on a visit to look over the region’s possum control programmes.

Hawke’s Bay Regional Council has been highly successful with its possum pest control, largely thanks to the cooperation of the farming community.

The Minister will be going to Kahuranaki Station southeast of Havelock North tomorrow morning and will meet with farmers involved in PCA programmes, Councillors and with Council Biosecurity staff.

“The Minister was invited to see how successful a possum control programme can be, when you get the great support from the farming community that we have here in Hawke’s Bay. Many farmers involved are reporting significant benefits to their farming businesses and the native flora and fauna on their properties,” said Cr Kevin Rose, Chairman Asset Management and Biosecurity Committee.

The Possum Control Area – or PCA – programme has been managed by Hawke’s Bay Regional Council for 10 years. The PCA programme involves farmers working in groups to manage traps and bait stations to keep possums to a very low level. In the longer running PCA projects, possum levels are now at 2% or less (which means for every 100 monitoring traps only two possums or fewer are caught).

Complementing the PCA programme, the Council also is expanding its Hawke’s Bay Urban Biodiversity or HuB programme in residential areas. This programme successfully reduced possums to low levels on Napier Hill two years ago, and is now running in areas around Havelock North.

ENDS

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