Our role
Our Northland environment
Northland is fortunate to host an incredible array of native life, with a third of the region in native vegetation cover, original wetlands, dune lakes, and an extensive coastline hosting animal and plant life. Our marine environment is also teeming with native life.
These native habitats are threatened by introduced pest plants, animals, marine organisms, and pathogens and diseases such as Kauri dieback disease, which are putting our health, culture and regional economy at risk.
Pest management is a top priority
Through our consultation with our communities and central government, there is a clear message from both that protection of these resources is top priority - with an ambitious goal set at a national level to rid New Zealand of possums, rats and stoats by 2050.
Pest management is one of our top three priority areas. In our 2018 – 2028 Long Term Plan we allocated an extra $6 million into pest management across the region to help us work towards becoming pest free and helping our native environment to thrive.
This funding will increase the council's ability to respond to plant, animal and marine pest incursions across the region and eradicate new pest arrivals, will allow even more collaborative work with communities, and will enable us to build capacity for area-specific pest control programmes.
Working together with the community
We can’t do it alone - we need the entire community to come together and invest in biodiversity and biosecurity with us. Much of the new funding will support the incredible work local groups are doing to get rid of pests and help our native life flourish.
Overall goals for pest management by 2021
- More Northlanders are supported and enabled to carryout pest control helping our native environment to thrive
- Aspirational large scale ‘pest-free Northland’ projects are developed with urban and rural communities
- An inter-regional marine pathway plan is in place to reduce the risk of marine pests spreading between regions.
Our Biosecurity team:
- Has developed (and continues to monitor) the Northland Regional Pest and Marine Pathway Management Plan to guide our pest control activities
- Provides free advice to landowners and public education on plant and animal pests, including our Pest Control Hub
- Facilitates the set up and support of Community Pest Control Areas in Northland
- Fund research on biological control for pests
- Provides funding for pest control through the Environment Fund
