Australian brush-tail possums are one of the most widespread and damaging introduced pests in Aotearoa New Zealand, with an estimated ~30 million around the country.

They are wreaking havoc on both our native plants and animals, and they put pressure on our ecosystems, farms, and the wider economy. Most of the time, we respond by suppressing possum numbers. But on Banks Peninsula, a different approach is taking shape.

In this episode, we sit down with Ollie Rutland-Sims from Pest Free Banks Peninsula to learn about their possum elimination programme: A bold mission, strategically working to drive possum numbers to zero in their area under the ethos that “offence is the best defence”.

As Ollie explains, “we're now dealing with quite a legacy problem and a population that really, the only checks and balances on it are coming from  ...