New Zealand
The Predator Free New Zealand programme has become hugely popular, inspired and driven by community action. However, an article in the New Zealand Journal of Ecology says that predators are just one of the pressures on Aotearoa's indigenous wildlife, and the authors argue that there needs to be more discussion of the philosophical world view underlying the programme. The author says the focus on suppressing predators makes it an incomplete answer to the question of restoring biodiversity, and rather than trying to maximise efficient killing of pests, we need to look at other options like how to minimise the number of pests out there to be killed. They say the technology and social licence of managing invasive species are at risk of becoming increasingly controversial, and this could lead to huge potential for conflict generated by colliding world views, and a risk to the programme's prospects of long-term, national-scale public support.
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