Just Accepted
This article has been peer reviewed and accepted for publication. It is in production and has not been edited, so may differ from the final published form.
A social practice perspective on environmental volunteering and pest management in Aotearoa New Zealand
Dean Stronge 
, Geoff Kaine , Jade Hyslop
Abstract
Context. The introduction of Predator Free 2050 (PF2050) in Aotearoa New Zealand (henceforth Aotearoa) in 2016 has led to the mobilisation of large numbers of volunteers to engage in pest management across the country. Aims. While it is important to understand what motivates people to engage with PF2050, we argue that understanding how they are engaging is just as important in ensuring successful pest management. Methods. Drawing on interviews with environmental volunteers in New Plymouth, Aotearoa, we use Social Practice Theory (SPT) to investigate the practice of rat trapping in an urban environment to understand how people are engaging with the PF2050 movement. In SPT, practices consist of three elements: meanings (includes ideas, norms and values); competencies (includes skills and know-how); and materials (includes objects and tools), that are linked together in and through performance. Key Results. We found that all three elements, either individually or in combination, were influential in how the practice of trapping rats was performed. It was also evident from the trapping practices described by our interviewees that the variations in the way they carried out their trapping activities did not meet recognised best practice for pest management. Conclusions. We contend that our research provides additional evidence of a reported shift that is occurring within conservation in Aotearoa – in which the focus has, unfortunately, moved away from resource protection to one of killing pest species (‘dead pests’). Implications. The normalising of practices that focus on dead pests over resource protection will not achieve Aotearoa’s biodiversity goals.
PC24077 Accepted 12 May 2025
© CSIRO 2025
