Call for more 1080 use.

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Call for more 1080 use
Poison's continued use 'crucial'
NEIL REID Last updated 13:30 25/03/201

ROBERT CHARLES/Fairfax NZ PEST CONTROL: One aerial application of 1080 poison can kill 98 per cent of possums in a targeted area.
Extensive recovery plans for our most-endangered native species and an increase in the use of 1080 are among an action plan conservation advocates have presented to John Key's cabinet.

Royal Forest & Bird NZ – which has 70,000 supporters in 50 branches nationwide – submitted a 43-page briefing to all incoming ministers last month.

General manager Mike Britton said the document outlinined "policies, hopes, campaigns and aspirations" covering the next 18 months and beyond, including a call for the government to increase the number of recovery plans for endangered native species.

That figure now stands at 2 per cent of our most at-risk species, compared with 85 per cent formulated by the American government for its endangered species.

"The whole Wildlife Act is out of date, and requires reform," Forest & Bird's document says. "We have been working with the Green Party to develop a Wildlife Amendment (Threatened Species Protection) Member's Bill, which would require recovery plans for all threatened species."

Forest & Bird's briefing paper also said the continued use of 1080 poison was crucial to ongoing conservation attempts.

Critics of 1080 claim the poison is killing native birds and animals, pets and livestock and poisoning waterways.

Forest & Bird's paper noted 1080 did cause "some mortality" among native species.

But Britton said it was the "only tool we have" to cost-effectively kill predators over large and remote areas.

One aerial application was capable of killing 98 per cent of possums and 90 per cent of rats in the targeted area.

"Most of our native species are threatened in some way or another by four legs and fur," he said. "If we can see pest control every six years, we know species will survive. If we can see it done every three years, we know numbers will increase. If it's not done, we know the forests will become silent and the bird species will go."

Forest & Bird's priorities also include declining consent for mining access on the Denniston plateau, taking steps to guarantee the protection of endangered New Zealand sea lions, and establishing a comprehensive independent inquiry into the grounding of the container ship Rena off Tauranga last year.

Britton said he hoped the government would act on their concerns.

"We are not necessarily against stuff, but our role is to say, these are the implications for nature. We believe in collaboration, but it is up to other groups to recognise there are issues with the industries they are sponsoring."


- © Fairfax NZ News 
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