PEST-MANAGEMENT IN THE WANGANUI CONSERVANCY

The management of pests to meet conservation objectives is a significant part of the work of the Department of Conservation's Wanganui Conservancy. Pest management activities are guided by national guidelines and priorities. Decisions on resource allocation are governed solely by the expected outcome for the protection and preservation of natural and historic resources, with prime emphasis on those features that are indigenous to New Zealand. The Conservancy has a diversity of animal pests and weeds, natural features, and administrative organisations that contribute to the complexity of management. Integrated management of animal pests in the Conservancy is illustrated by a description of a new programme to control possums in Egmont National Park, an area where goats have been under a sustained control regime for at least 20 years and which has no other ungulate pests.