Wasp Wipeout, a community-led conservation project that aims to significantly reduce German and common wasp populations in the Nelson-Tasman region this summer. It is fantastic to see Nelson Mail get behind this campaign.

Anyone who has encountered a wasp knows how nasty the insects can be: they attack baby birds in their nests and fledging native bats, remove a huge amount of food sources from the ecosystem, as well as having awful stings.

The battle plan is to use the extremely effective wasp bait Vespex (developed in Nelson) and place bait stations across the region. Vespex® won a WWF Conservation Innovation Award last year and Wasp Wipeout was a finalist in this year’s awards.

This is where you can buy Vespex if you are having problems with wasps like we are here in our garden at The Tindall Foundation!

Nelson Mail have put together some great information on the impacts these two wasps are having on New Zealand’s environment, economy and people.

This awesome mini-documentary was made by Stuff journalist Charles “Attenborough” Anderson who ventured deep into the native beech forest to understand the impact of German and common wasps have on our environment. It shows the vespula wasp problem in Nelson Lakes and Abel Tasman national parks