New Zealand is investing $202 million in a mega-operation aimed at restoring three islands destroyed by invasive species

New Zealand has launched one of the largest ecological restoration projects in its history along with the Maori natives of the country. It is attempting to eliminate invasive mammals from three islands in order to revive the native birds, marine animals and land.The project will be taking place in Maukahuka/Auckland Island, Rakiura/Stewart Island and the Chatham archipelago. According to the New Zealand Department of Conservation, the package brings together the government, local communities and indigenous organisations. The DOC reported that the three projects have an estimated cost of NZ $202 million, have already received NZ $54 million from the government and still require significant funding mobilisation. The same initiative states that each of these islands is 4 to 15 times larger than the largest island the country has managed to clear of pests to date.Arrival of predators, vanishing of nativesIn Rakiura, the project aims to remove feral cats, rats, possums and hedgehogs.For millions of years, New Zealand's flora and fauna flourished in isolation, without the presence of terrestrial mammalian predators. According to Island Conservation, this process created a unique yet extr...