Possum control on the Otago Peninsula has been given a $140,000 boost.
The Otago Peninsula Biodiversity Group says the money, from the New Zealand Lottery Grants Board environment and heritage fund, will go towards a poison and trapping programme scheduled to start in March.
The group's chairperson, Irene Scurr, says the thousands of possums on the Peninsula are impeding canopy regrowth and taking eggs from bird nests.
Ms Scurr says an additional $350,000 will be needed to make the entire Peninsula, up to the Dunedin city boundary, free of possums.
