Welcome

Tēnā tātau katoa,

This is a special edition of our newsletter focused on our review of the Aotearoa New Zealand Wallaby Strategy. During May 2026 we held a series of in-person and online meetings with our partners and communities interested in wallaby control. We wanted to share with you a summary of the feedback we heard at those meetings and submitted to us via email. 

Thank you to all who took the time to attend a meeting or submit your thoughts to us. 

Work on the revised strategy is progressing and remains on track for completion later this year. 

Ngā mihi, 

John Walsh 

Chair, Tipu Mātoro Governance Group 

Wallaby Strategy Review – Engagement summary 

Over the dozen or so meetings we heard from just over one hundred people with an interest in wallaby control. These people included farmers, mana whenua, conservation groups, contractors, scientists, hunters, regional councils, district councils and central government agencies. 

We also received 23 written submissions on the strategy review. These were from partner organisations including regional councils, Federated Farmers and Forest & Bird, as well as a number of farmers and landowners, predominately from South Canterbury. 

The proposed aim  

People were generally supportive of the proposed aim and agreed it was something that everybody could get behind: 

 To systematically remove wallaby populations across Aotearoa New Zealand, to prevent spread and progress toward national eradication, through continual innovation in detection and control. 

A few people made some suggested wording changes to the aim which will be considered.  

Control priorities  

Feedback on control priorities was more varied. Many landowners in the containment areas highlighted the need for increased control where wallaby numbers are highest, noting this can remove more wallabies for each dollar spent and may help reduce further dispersal from established populations.  

Regional councils generally supported continuing to focus on eliminating outlying populations and preventing spread. This reflects the view that preventing new infestations now can prevent greater impacts and costs in the future. From a long-term perspective this is seen as a good return on investment even though the cost per wallaby removed is often higher because wallabies are harder to find at lower densities.  

The revised strategy will seek to balance these priorities to achieve the best long-term outcomes. 

General feedback  

There were many other points raised in the feedback, including: 

• The importance of improving wallaby detection and control methods, including learning from operations as we go (i.e. adaptive management). 

•  The need for a ‘roadmap’ of how the strategy will be implemented i.e. what do the steps look like as we move towards the vision of eradication. 

• Control operations should focus on areas of preferred wallaby habitat to achieve more effective results. 

• Some people were supportive of fencing as a tool, while others were concerned it was not cost effective. 

• The need for the strategy to apply to all wallaby management across the country and not just the national programme, though it also needs to recognise the differences between the situations in the North and South Islands. 

• Coordination of control needs to be achieved across the different funding streams (e.g. MPI, DOC, councils, iwi and private funds). 

• More coordination with other browsing pest control could occur. 

• A more clearly defined role for the regional coordination groups within the programme. 

• Landowners within South Canterbury were not feeling adequately represented on the Governance Group. 

Discussing wallaby control priorities with landowners at the Kurow Memorial Hall, May 2026 

Next steps 

Over the next two months we will continue revising the strategy with partner organisations and Regional Coordination Groups. 

In October, the draft strategy will be considered by the Tipu Mātoro Governance Group. Once agreed, the strategy will be finalised ahead of its expected public release in February 2027.

Ngā mihi nui,

The Tipu Mātoro Programme Team

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