Paparoa Predator Free (PPF) aims establish a Predator Free 2050 project in the northern Te Tai Poutini West Coast within the rohe of Te Rūnanga o Ngāti Waewae.

The 230,000-hectare site incorporates the forested wilderness of the Paparoa Range and its surrounding landscape. The Paparoa Range is uniquely isolated - by the Tasman Sea to the west and from the Southern Alps by the large Buller, Grey and Inangahua rivers. The site has a richness of ecosystems not found elsewhere within an area that can be protected from predator re-invasion by utilising these geographical features. The site’s ecosystems include warm temperate forests, spectacular limestone landscapes, remote alpine tops, and extensive and biodiverse wetlands and estuaries.

The focus of the project is to collaboratively work towards a predator free Paparoa so ecosystems and communities can both flourish into the future.

The proposal is to remove rats, mustelids (stoats and weasels), possums and goats from Paparoa and then defend the site from reinvasion. These predators compete and eat wildlife and damage the forest. Deer are not in scope of Paparoa Predator Free. The methods and technology for predator removal projects of this scale on mainland New Zealand are progressing rapidly and so we believe Paparoa Predator Free can be achieved in five to ten years.