The Green Desk: Developing Predator Eradication Tools with Professor Dan Tompkins; June 23, 2022

The Green Desk is back! Join Frances at her metaphoric green desk as she brings you all the latest green news.

This week she looks at funding from the Government’s Jobs for Nature Mahi mō te Taiao programme. Predator Free 2050 Limited has announced $4.8 million in funding for seven companies developing predator eradication tools and ‘best practice’ for their use, while creating and supporting jobs.

The funding is being invested through the ‘Products to Projects’ initiative, launched in 2019 to accelerate development and commercialisation of new tools that will help groups working to achieve mainland eradication of possums, rats and mustelids at landscape scale without the use of fences.

Now, three years on, a number of new tools are already available to buy and are successfully in use, with many more only months away.

Frances speaks to the Science Director for Predator Free 2050, Professor Dan Tompkins, about why it’s crucial to be continually innovating New Zealand's 2050 national eradication goals.