Fight for the Wild

RNZ Originals

New Zealand has lost countless species over generations. Can the notion of a Predator Free 2050 in Aotearoa turn the page and save our wild?

Season 1

  1. EPISODE 1

    Dealing with Loss

    Loss looks at the devastating effect introduced mammals have had on New Zealand's unique wildlife. Watch the video version of the episode here. Dealing with Loss takes listeners back to Gondwana, to explore just why our native birds are so tragically vulnerable to predation by mammals from another hemisphere. Host Dave Hansford then presents a series of "criminal profiles" introducing listeners to the Predator Free target species: the brushtail possum, the stoat, the kiore, and the ship and Norway rats, through accounts from the country's leading experts. The podcast then quantifies the loss - one of the worst extinction episodes on the planet - before relating the peril that continues today, with commentary from field experts on the impacts of this suite of predators. Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details

    27 min

  2. EPISODE 2

    Remove and Protect

    New Zealander's have drawn a line in the sand, announcing they will rid the nation of rats, stoats and possums by 2050, but what will it take to get there? Watch the video version of the episode here. Remove and Protect reveals what Aotearoa means to do about the losing battle for our wildlife. It sets out the critical distinction between business-as-usual pest control - simply holding a line - and the step change, and monumental challenge, that is eradication. It looks at some ingenious new tools - smart, autonomous devices that are already changing our idea of what's possible and what's affordable. Host Dave Hansford and the experts then tell listeners the plan, the nuts-and-bolts detail of exactly how we mean to find and catch that last rat. Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details

    27 min

  3. EPISODE 3

    Predator-Free 2050 & Māori

    Community-led projects are leading the charge to halt biodiversity decline, while researchers make break-throughs in their quest to remove predators and protect borders from reinvasion. Watch the video version of the episode here. Episode Three explores the deep relationship between Māori and the natural world. Predator Free 2050 and Māori looks at the vital contribution of Māori towards achieving Predator Free. It begins by exploring the deep relationship between Māori and the natural world, and the ways in which the loss of biodiversity impact on the identity and well-being of Māori, and on the very culture itself. Commentators set out their expectations around Predator Free, and we explore the chance it offers for tino rangatiratanga, and a genuine bicultural partnership. They talk too, about how, by healing Nature, people can themselves be healed. Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details

    27 min

  4. EPISODE 4

    What's in it for us?

    In the series finale, Hope, we get a glimpse of what a predator-free Aotearoa could look like, and look at the breakthrough technologies and innovations taking us towards that goal. Watch the video version of the episode here. The final podcast in the series, What's in it for us?, counts both the costs and benefits of Predator Free. It explores the costs of not doing it, before setting out a range of possible, positive outcomes for the economy, our exports, for Aotearoa's standing on the world stage - and most importantly, for ourselves and those who will follow. In one of the last interviews Sir Rob Fenwick gave before his death in March 2020, he talks about what Predator Free meant to him, and estimates our chances of success. Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details

    29 min

  5. SEASON 1 TRAILER

    Introducing: Fight for the Wild

    Takes you into the wild heart of Aotearoa, documenting the desperate battle to protect it and exploring the notion of Predator Free 2050. Watch the video trailer here Fight for the Wild is a four-part video series that takes viewers into the wild heart of Aotearoa and documents the desperate battle to protect it. It explores the notion of Predator Free 2050 and asks whether this big, bold initiative is achievable and if so, how? In the complementary Fight for the Wild podcast series, conservation writer Dave Hansford investigates how and why New Zealand plans to become predator-free. Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details

    2 min

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New Zealand has lost countless species over generations. Can the notion of a Predator Free 2050 in Aotearoa turn the page and save our wild?

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