Survival of native birds, plants depends on 1080

25 May 2007

Survival of native birds and plants depends on 1080, ERMA told as hearings close

“We have argued from the outset that the benefits of continuing to use 1080 far outweigh the adverse effects and associated risks,” Department of Conservation research, development & improvement general manager John Ombler said today.

Mr Ombler was delivering in Wellington the Department’s closing address to the Environmental Risk Managment Authority hearings on the future of the use of 1080 poison in animal pest control in New Zealand. Hearings began on 14 May.

“In terms of the HSNO Act that will guide your decision making, we cannot emphasise too strongly that the use of 1080 is vital to ensure the sustainability and indeed the very survival of many of our native plant and animal species.”

He told the hearing that the “silent forests” about which anti-1080 submitters were concerned had lost their birdsong to the ravages of introduced animal preadators, not to 1080.

“The painstaking radio-tagging of more than 250 birds from nine threatened species and monitoring them before and after various aerial 1080 operations found that only two individuals died from poisoning, a morepork and a weka. All the rest survived.”

“More than 80 kiwi have now been monitored with radio transmitters through several aerial 1080 operations. All have survived.”

“So it is not 1080 that is silencing our forests. It is the silent killers that are responsible – the stoats, rats and possums – aided by feral cats and dogs. While we can, in hindsight, rue the shortsighted decisions that introduced these species, our dubious legacy is to have to try to rectify the consequences.”

The consequences included the loss of native forest canopy in the North and South Islands, and the alarming decline in bird species such as kokako and kereru, Mr Ombler said. As a result, there were fewer birds to disperse seeds, further impacting on the long-term viability of forest tree species.

“We are faced with not only a threat to the sustainability of individual species, but also to the life-supporting capacity of native ecosystems. This brings economic risks.”

“Healthy ecosystems underpin much of New Zealand’s tourism sector. They also provide quality recreational experiences, and supply valuable services for primary producers, for example, through their roles in purifying and regulating water flows, reducing flood and erosion damage and building up soils.”

Like any toxin, the use of 1080 carried risks to non-target species and continuous improvements had been made over the last 30 years to manage these risks, he said. They included a 10-fold reduction in the amount of 1080 applied per hectare, better delivery technology and better bait design.

“While the search for alternative methods of control will continue, it is clear that there is no method just around the corner, with the benefits that we currently get from 1080.”

“But I must stress that the call for alternatives implies that 1080 is the only tool we currently use or that we are stuck in a kind of either/or situation which simply doesn’t correspond to reality. Because the salient fact is that we need every tool we can lay our hand on and we welcome alternatives but not at the expense of 1080.”

Naturally, there was concern in the community about the use of 1080 and the Department was assiduous in its consulting with interested groups, including Maori, wherever 1080 operations were proposed. Improvement was always possible, and the HSNO Act’s “codes of practice” for consultation with Maori could be explored as a mechanism.

Mr Ombler praised ERMA for conducting its hearings in an open and respectful way that allowed full and frank discussion on the issues surrounding the use of 1080.

“The heartening aspect of this reassessment process is that all those who have participated have a common vision for protecting the species and places that are unique and special to us all as New Zealanders.”

ENDS

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