- This project employs rural economist Peter Macintyre to Whanawhana to interview 12 landowners across Hawke’s Bay – from farmers to iwi to forestry companies – to estimate the losses they have faced to their pastures, crops, trees and biodiversity as a result of wild/feral deer browsing. The focus will be on farmers who are currently wrestling with a feral deer problem and who have good measurements and numbers for their recent losses. Mr Macintyre will then compare the losses against the cost of deer fencing across the lifetime of the fence.
- Many working in conservation understand the damage feral deer are doing to our natural landscapes, but they may not have priced the damage. The wider population is also unaware of the damage being caused.
- This project aims to build more awareness across the primary sector, and that will in turn explain the losses to a wider audience.
- This survey will form the basis of a story, which will be told widely and used for lobbying for greater feral deer control.
