Conservationists and industry groups are banding together in a coordinated effort to combat the growing issue of pests, which are decimating the country's forests.
The situation has reached a critical point, with experts warning that without targeted funding from the Government, Aotearoa's precious native forests may face irreversible damage.
The Forestry Institute's James Treadwell said the picture was "really grim".
The farmer said in the last two months, around 1400 goats have been shot on one Wairoa farm alone.
Helicopters are used to help flush the wild, browsing pests like goats, pigs and deer from cover to be shot.
Wairoa Helicopters' Corey Isherwood highlighted the scale of the problem.
"In an hour's worth of shooting, you are sort of looking at 100 to 200 an hour. Some other farms can be up to 300. There's one farm particularly we take a thousand off a day, do three thousand a year, and that's after they have mustered. They'll muster them, and we'll get the so-called stragglers, and you're still taking a thousand. Go back the next day and get another thousand. Deer numbers are similar."
While this method is effective, it comes at a considerable cost.
"On this block alone, we spent close to $150,000 on 400 hectares, so I'm guessing we are well into the $10 to $20 million," Treadwell said.
If left uncontrolled, the goat population can double every two years, posing a significant threat to the country's native forests. One goat consumes double the amount of vegetation a sheep does, another cost for farms.
While wallaby eradication receives Government funding, the responsibility for managing other browsing pests falls on regional councils, the Department of Conservation, and landowners. However, the problem is rapidly growing.
Forest and Bird chief executive Nicola Toki shared alarming statistics.
"Browsing pest mammals have now been found on 82 percent of public conservation monitoring sites, up from 63 percent in only a few years.
"Browsing pests destroy the forest understory so that means no new seedlings, no younger trees, and therefore no natural infrastructure to hold the forest together, which protects downstream communities from slips, floods, and soil erosion. It is a major problem, not just from a natural point of view but also for resilience against floods and droughts."
In an unprecedented move, Federated Farmers, Forest and Bird, and the Forestry Institute have joined forces, calling for more Government commitment to combat the issue before it's too late.
"I think what the three organisations want is for the Government to accept the issue from an economic and environmental perspective and then put targeted funding and strategic resources in place rather than just letting these animals run amok all over the country," Toki said.
The pressure now falls on the next government to address this escalating problem.
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