Lesson 8: Conservation Strategies: Predator Free 2050 & Mainland Sanctuaries
Exploring NZ ecosystems, biodiversity, energy flow, invasive pests, kaitiakitanga, and field restoration projects.
🎯 Ngā Whāinga Akoranga | Learning Intentions
Predator Free 2050 goal, predator-proof pest fences (e.g. Sanctuary Mountain Maungatautari, Zealandia), offshore island reserves, 1080 poison debate, and genetic pest control technologies.
Evaluate pest control methodologies (trapping, 1080 aerial drop, pest-proof fencing), weigh costs vs ecological recovery outcomes, and debate conservation strategies.
🎥 Media Anchor & Pedagogical Scaffold
Predator Free 2050 & Island Sanctuary Conservation
Video Clip: Towards a Predator Free New Zealand — Department of Conservation (Watch in full — declared full-watch).
🧠 1. Before Viewing (Activate & Predict)
Is eradicating all introduced rats, stoats, and possums across Aotearoa by 2050 an achievable goal or an impossible dream?
👁️ 2. During Viewing (Watch With a Job)
- As you watch: What is the Predator Free 2050 goal, and which species are targeted for eradication?
- Note: What conservation tools and technologies are being used — fences, trapping, aerial operations?
- Consider: How is community involvement (citizen science, local groups) essential to making this vision work?
🗣️ 3. After Viewing & Kaiako Move (Process & Apply)
Kaiako Move: Facilitate a structured class discussion comparing mainland sanctuary fences vs aerial pest control in remote national parks.
Immediate Task: Complete Section 8 of your Ecology Field Journal: Pest Control Methodology Evaluation Matrix.
⚡ Whakaoho | Do Now: First Ranking (10 mins)
Your Lesson 7 MCI score told you HOW healthy an ecosystem is; today is about what to DO when pests are the problem. Before any evidence: rank these three tools from most to least effective for protecting native birds — trapping networks, aerial 1080, predator-proof fence. Write one sentence defending your #1. Keep the ranking: you will re-rank it against evidence at the end.
📖 Activity 1: Pest-Control Evaluation Stations (25 mins)
- Rotate (15 min — 5 per station): three stations with evidence cards: trapping networks (community-run, labour-heavy, works street by street), aerial 1080 (covers remote ranges no trapper can reach, contested in some communities), predator-proof fences (near-total exclusion inside, e.g. Zealandia in Wellington and Sanctuary Mountain Maungatautari, but expensive per hectare).
- Score (in rotation): at each station fill one row of your evaluation matrix: cost, scale it can cover, by-kill risk, effectiveness in remote terrain, and the role communities play.
- Re-rank (5 min): return to your Do Now ranking. Re-rank the three methods using your matrix, and note honestly whether the evidence moved you.
- Mini-debate (5 min): half the room argues "a fence protects an island of bush; 1080 protects a whole range", half argues the reverse priority. One piece of matrix evidence per speaker.
📝 Activity 2: Field Journal Section 8 — Methodology Evaluation (20 mins)
Write up Section 8 of your Ecology Field Journal: the completed evaluation matrix, your before-and-after rankings with what changed your mind (or why nothing did), and a recommendation — which method, or combination, would you fund for the bush nearest your school, given the Predator Free 2050 goal? Use eradication, by-kill and Predator Free 2050 correctly, and back the recommendation with at least two rows of your matrix.
🏫 Kaiako Planning & Pedagogy Notes
Prep and sensitivity: the 1080 debate is genuinely contested in some communities, including among whānau who hunt. Keep the evaluation on the evidence cards — costs, coverage, outcomes — and off families' personal choices. The Do Now/re-rank pair makes learning visible: collect both rankings if you want quick formative evidence. The tracking-rate data from Lesson 4 is the natural "how would you know it worked?" link. Curriculum anchoring for the unit sits on the unit page (verbatim Te Mātaiaho statements).