Review Article

The desire for ecosystem restoration and native forest expansion is growing internationally. Transitional forestry, where an exotic plantation forest is transitioned to a native forest, is a potential method of native forest restoration and carbon sequestration that is gaining interest in Aotearoa New Zealand. However, it is currently unknown whether this approach can produce a permanent native forest ecosystem and how representative of remnant native forest it could be.

We review the recent rise to prominence in Aotearoa New Zealand of predation-focused conservation management, critically assessing the likelihood that this will deliver outcomes consistent with national biodiversity goals. Using a review of literature describing the impacts and control of three groups of introduced mammals (wild ungulates, brushtail possums, and predators), we identify shifts in management emphasis over a century of conservation decision-making in Aotearoa.