Funding available for predator control innovation

Date:  30 April 2019

New Zealand wants to be rid of possums, rats and stoats by 2050. In 2017 DOC made an investment in critical research that has paid dividends in predator management over large areas. Victoria University of Wellington proposed the idea of developing a long-life rat lure and bringing it to market.

That was a very successful venture and again this year the government will be looking for that innovative project that lowers the cost or effort to do predator control and increase the benefit to native wildlife.

New Zealand needs to improve current predator control technologies to make them safer and more cost-effective. A key goal is investment into research that seeks new ways to deal with pest populations at a large scale.

DOC is extending an open invitation to those who wish to apply for the 2019 Tools to Market funding round.

Ian Cryer, project manager for Tools to Market, says: "We're looking for innovative ideas to make a real difference to pest control technologies. We want new or improved tools to advance predation eradication, monitoring and data management, as well as ‘scaling up’ predator suppression in the landscape systems.

"Once we have proof of the viability of a method to improve pest management, we can then explore the possibilities of any further developments."

To support this goal, the government is investing $2 million in 2019/20 and then $1.4 million annually to improve current predator control tools.

Tools to Market aims to advance products from the research and development stage to a position where tools are fully operational and in the hands of the community groups or professional operators.

The project supports suppliers to develop and test prototypes at a landscape scale with the idea of deploying their solutions throughout New Zealand to achieve Predator Free 2050.

Project manager Ian Cryer continues: "The funding provided can be used to manufacture and test prototypes, support any required registrations and carry out field trials.

"We want people to register their interest against some key investment opportunities which can cover one or more categories. Multiple submissions will be accepted."

These categories are:

• effective techniques for detecting predators at low densities
• effective predator removal
• protecting the gains, eg preventing reinvasion of predators without impeding movement of native species and domestic stock.

People should register their interest via the Government Electronic Tenders Service (GETS) once the registration of interest has gone live on Tuesday 30 April 2019. Applications must be provided in an electronic format only and submitted via GETS prior to 5 pm Thursday 16 May 2019.

Applicant submissions will be evaluated against the assessment criteria below with the highest ten scoring applicants being invited to present in person to the evaluation panel in stage two.

GETS website

Assessment criteria

• Assessment of how the concept will ultimately benefit New Zealand conservation efforts and contribute to Predator Free 2050 goals.
• Assessment of the proposal as to its achievability, alignment and whether it will accomplish its intended aims in accordance with one or more of the procurement themes.
• Assessment of the proposal’s workplan. That there is enough detail to assure assessing staff that the plan has been well thought out from the planning stage through to full implementation.
• Assessment of the proposal’s value for money. Assessing staff are assured that the cost of development is worth the investment and sustainable in the long term.
• To make widely accessible the tools needed to achieve the Predator Free 2050 goals.

Additional information

Tools to Market funding complements the Predator Free 2050 Ltd ‘Products to Projects’ fund. This is a one-off injection designed to accelerate product delivery.

Applications for both programmes can be made concurrently. 

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