The Vision

The Great Barrier Island Charitable Trust vision is to protect native species through the eradication of rats and feral cats, to re-introduce species lost to the island, and to work towards building an ecology-based economic framework for Great Barrier.

Since its establishment three years ago, the main thrust of the Great Barrier Island Charitable Trust has been to develop an awareness in the local community of the environmental, social, and economic benefits of eradicating rats and feral cats from the island. The Department of Conservation and the Auckland Regional Council have confirmed that this is technically possible and that funding would very likely be available if the community were to affirm its support. Were this to happen Great Barrier Island would become the largest inhabited island in the world free of rats, feral cats, and mustelids. The work of the Trust is to gain a mandate from the community to pursue this vision on their behalf.