In 2016 Stuff’s Nelson office joined forces with the Department of Conservation and the Tasman Environmental Trust to target one of New Zealand’s most destructive pests, a pest wreaking havoc in the region’s three national parks. The Wasp Wipeout campaign has since gradually spread its reach across much of the South Island and into the North. As each year goes by, new tools are added to fight invasive wasps and very real progress is being made.
National correspondent Charlie Mitchell looks at how the invasive wasp has been able to flourish and talks to the scientists working at the coal face in a bid to bring the numbers under control. He spoke to Phil Lester, co-lead of Novel Tools & Strategies – Invertebrates.
