Thirteen parties have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) today to rid Stewart Island of pests.

The signing parties include Ngāi Tahu, central and local government agencies such as the Department of Conservation (DOC), Real Journeys, representatives of hunting and other recreational groups, and members of the Stewart Island community, who committed to developing a strategy to achieve a predator-free status for the island.

Conservation Minister Eugenie Sage said it was an "ambitious vision" to back nature on the island.

"Once achieved Rakiura/Stewart Island would be the largest inhabited predator-free island in the world," she said.

“Rakiura is home to unique endemic plants and wildlife such as the endangered Rakiura tokoeka kiwi, the Stewart Island Robin, and Harlequin gecko, which aren’t found anywhere else in the world. This commitment to predator free status is giving them a much needed helping hand.”

Predator Free Rakiura will aim to remove rats, possums, feral cats and hedgehogs from the mainland and islands of Rakiura. The islands are already free of stoats, weasels, ferrets, pigs and goats. The predator free concept has been around for some years.

Today’s MOU signing is the culmination of several years of discussion.

“It’s inspiring to see so many organisations and groups committed to working together towards the goal of the being the world’s largest inhabited island where predators have been removed,” Ms Sage said.

New funding in Budget 2018 for predator control of $81.2 million over four years has enabled DOC to scale up its response to the biggest mast event in 40 years, with widespread seeding in beech and podocarp forests. 

It has also enabled DOC to plan longer term and expand the areas under sustained predator control from the current 800,000 ha per year to 1.85 million ha or 20% of conservation land by 2022, including 37,417 ha on Stewart Island.

“In addition, an investment of $10 million has been made to DOC’s Tools to Market and PF2050 Ltd’s Product to Projects programmes to accelerate development of new and improved predator control tools and technologies, increase the range of options for effective predator control," Ms Sage said.