“A big part of the problem for the kiwi population is pests such as rats, stoats and ferrets.
“Many farmers already undertake pest management programmes at their own expense to combat local pest problems and by working with the Crown, regional councils and others there is a much better chance of achieving pest suppression and re-establishment of the kiwi population and its growth.
“Farmers can find out how to get more involved through programmes such as Kiwis for kiwi, which also received a $3.5m boost in funding from the Government.
“Programmes like these have a great way of filtering down to the communities and any funding will be well used.”
Allen said farmers could become a part of the community effort by first finding out whether they had wild kiwi on their land, making sure any dog on their property had received kiwi avoidance training and covenanting wetlands, native forest and shrub land.
