The Government has announced new measures to halt the extinction of our native/taonga species.
Associate Environment Minister James Shaw released plans on Friday for a biodiversity credit system to encourage landowners to protect native habitats on their property.
It works similar to carbon credits, in that people and businesses will pay for a credit that will fund conservation projects and save threatened species.
Basically, it's to make sure land outside the 30 percent of the country managed by the Department of Conservation would get the same protections for threatened flora and fauna.
But with 75 percent of indigenous species at risk of extinction, one private company is already trading biodiversity credits - and the first project to benefit from the funds is proving the scheme's value for money.
In the jagged hills between Tairāwhiti and Ōpōtiki, a group of hunters has a pest in their sights that's a bit smaller than their usual targets of deer and pigs.
Eastern Whio Link founder, Sam Gibson, told Newshub pests like stoats continually hunt endangered species like whio (native blue duck).
"Stoats have a big impact on whio, they're the number one predator of whio and if we can remove the stoats from interacting with the rivers - with the ecosystem - the whio numbers jump up really quick."
Since starting Eastern Whio Link in 2020, the team has built a network of more than a thousand traps.
And the results for whio have been huge.
"In three years we've bred 56 whio chicks off four pairs of whio."
These results don't come cheap.
Doing it properly costs between $200,000 to $250,000 a year.
That's where CarbonZ comes in - it's a company connecting groups like Gibson's with those who want to invest in nature - and promising to take a maximum cut of 10 percent.
"So it's not an offsetting scheme where a company can have an impact on nature then compensate that by buying one of these credits," CarbonZ founder Finn Ross told Newshub.
"This is a philanthropic contribution for a business or an individual to make that allows them to connect deeper with nature."
One biodiversity credit is worth $200. That pays for one trap, covering 100 metres, so $2000 covers 1km with traps.
For $6000 you pay to trap the entire home range for a pair of whio, or about 3 kilometres.
Seventy-five percent of indigenous reptiles, birds, bats and freshwater fish are facing extinction, or are at risk of being threatened with extinction.
In an effort to halt this, the Government just opened consultation on its own biodiversity credit system.
"How can we essentially support people to do what they already want to do, which is be part of the solution?" asked Shaw.
Conservationists are welcoming the news, but have cautioned caution any biodiversity credit system must ensure the bulk of funds go to conservation action.
"Australia has several different state biodiversity crediting systems, and a lot of them have ended up with a massive amount of the project cost being spent on consulting, auditing and verification," said Ross.
Shaw said the scheme needs to be sustainable over time.
"It's really important to us that we have a system that is completely transparent and internationally credible."
The challenge will be creating demand for private investment in a biodiversity credit market - if a voluntary scheme doesn't work, regulation might be required to force businesses to invest.
Gibson argues investment to protect our native species is critical.
"There's benefits to kiwi. We've [also] got two species of bat in here, we've got some beautiful little Hochstetters frogs. We've got some amazing creatures in the Waioeka."
In native creature currency at least, it's a healthy return on investment.
