In 2012, the late Sir Paul Callaghan, in his last public appearance, at a Zealandia Sanctuary lecture, set a challenge for New Zealand: to make it Pest Free. While Sir Paul’s vision has been eagerly embraced, it has sparked a debate within the scientific community as to how feasible it actually is.
Alison Ballance meets Andrea Byrom, Portfolio Leader for the Wildlife Ecology & Management Team at Landcare Research, and global pest eradication consultant John Parkes, recently retired from Landcare Research, to find out what they think about vision and what the science behind the concept of a Predator Free New Zealand actually is.
This interview was broadcast on 23 January 2014. In July 2016 the New Zealand Government announced a plan to make the country predator-free by 2050, and Our Changing World convened a conservation summit to discuss the feasibility of this idea.
