Minister of Conservation, Hon Tama Potaka's message to Predator Free Dunedin Annual General Meeting 2026.

The Otago Peninsula has been declared possum free - making it one of the first inhabited landscape-scale areas in Aotearoa / New Zealand to eliminate possums. It is a landmark win for New Zealand’s Predator Free 2050 vision and cements Ōtepoti / Dunedin’s place as the Wildlife Capital of New Zealand. 

Established Ōtepoti/Dunedin artist Sam Foley's recent show The Green Belt Invitational invited an exciting array of local and national artists to showcase works drawing upon their inspiration from our green spaces. Sam also used the show as a vehicle to facilitate awareness of and a generous $5,000 donation to Predator Free Dunedin's City Sanctuary project. 

The Karitāne Kirimoko/Kilmog Possum Programme is delivering a major biodiversity win for the Predator Free Dunedin whānau, with our delivery partner the Halo Project driving possum numbers down to near-target levels across this important part of rural Ōtepoti/Dunedin.  

The Halo Project’s Kāpuka-taumāhaka/Mt Cargill and West Harbour “zero-density” zone has just reached a major milestone, with formal approval to switch on the network of FTP “smart traps” designed to minimise risk to kākā.

Between Dunedin city and the Otago Peninsula lies a critical buffer zone known as Sector 5 - a patchwork of steep gullies, road reserves, and pockets of bush where the last remaining possums are making their stand.

Ahead of the local body elections, Predator Free Dunedin reached out to all candidates running for Dunedin City Council (DCC) and Otago Regional Council (ORC). We asked them two key questions to understand their position on our city's natural heritage and its protection - and this is what they said.