Could the Bay of Plenty one day become predator free?

That’s the ambitious vision being put to the community at a public meeting this weekend, where locals can hear how one of New Zealand’s biggest predator-control projects is making that goal a reality.

Predator Free Wellington representative Alastair Henshaw will share the organisation’s experience working across 30,000 hectares and about 70,000 households, before joining a local panel to discuss what could be possible for the Bay.

Predator Free Bay of Plenty coordinator Megan Cross said the meeting is an opportunity to think bigger about what can be achieved when communities work together.

“Big conservation change starts with communities taking action together,” she said.

Predator Free Wellington has eliminated rats, stoats and weasels from the 1000ha Miramar Peninsula. Since the project began, native bird detections there have increased by 136 per cent.

The Bay of Plenty already has its own conservation success stories, with kōkako, kiwi, kororā and tūturiwhatu populations benefiting from community-led predator control and habitat protection.

“The Northern New Zealand Dotterel are also rebounding on local shores thanks to intensive community-led predator trapping and habitat protection,” Cross said.

Cross said the next step is to explore how those efforts could be connected.

“We want to build a strategic approach that can link different populations and bring more birds into our towns and the city.”

The public meeting will explore what Wellington has learned, what worked, what didn’t, and what lessons could be applied locally.

The Predator Free Bay of Plenty Public Meeting will be held on Saturday, October 10, from 3.30pm to 5pm at the Mount Maunganui Bridge Club Rooms.

Everyone is welcome, and the event is free. Registration and more information are available at predatorfreebop.nz/ournextsteps.