The vision of Predator Free Wellington is to create the world’s first predator free capital city where communities and native biodiversity thrive. The aim is to completely eradicate rats, possums, stoats and weasels from the entire Wellington city, a total area of 30,000 hectares. It is an ambitious goal, and not an easy one to achieve within an area in which around 212,000 people live. Previous pest eradication projects have only been achieved on off-shore islands or within fenced sanctuaries. A multi species eradication in an urban area of this scale has never been done anywhere in the world before. It is a bold goal, but it will also mean that we can end the eternal cycle of predator control and will be a complete game changer for New Zealand's biodiversity. Wellington is the first urban centre in the country to take on the challenge fully, and is being used as a model for how other urban centres in the country will approach the eradication goal. The biodiversity outcomes as a result of Predator Free Wellington are significant, but the social impacts are equally impressive, including more resilient and connected communities, improved health & wellbeing outcomes, not to mention the confidence communities gain from achieving a world-first project together. Predator Free Wellington will undertake a staged eradication across five phases over 10 years. The first phase started on Miramar Peninsula in 2019 with the plan going forward to move out over the rest of Wellington in four separate eradication projects - ending at the border with Porirua City. Phase one in the Miramar Peninsula has given us a proof of concept to deliver this world first and means we now have a proven methodology to replicate and deliver over the rest of the city.
