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Forest & Bird » Threats & Impacts

31. CeeJay
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    This is from the Federated Farmers website

    "1080 Still OK

    Federated Farmers joined other organisations (including DOC and Forest and Bird) to convince regulators of the benefits of continued use of 1080. Tuberculosis in cattle and deer herds has fallen by more than 90 percent in the past decade, largely thanks to possum control, and New Zealand is on track to be free of Tb by 2013 or earlier. 1080 is the backbone of the Tb eradication scheme and will continue to be used."

    Not just us public service type greenies, eh?

    Posted 2 years ago #

32. Nic Vallance
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    Hi all,

    There's a great interview on Waiheke Radio with Phil Brown from the Auckland Area Office from the Department of Conservation on the wildlife deaths in the Hauraki Gulf, and the restoration project for Rangitoto and Motutapu.

    He also talks about the DVD "poisoning paradise".

    Definitely worth a listen if you're interested in the facts on this stuff.
    http://www.waihekeradio.org.nz/node/654

    Cheers!
    Nic
    PS. 'off filming again soon for Meet the Locals (http://www.tvnz.co.nz/meet-the-locals ) this summer - this time a Seaweek special - lookin' forward to getting my feet wet! ; )

    Posted 2 years ago #

33. clairegreen
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    Great news about what a poor turnout there was to the November 15 PEST Free new Zealand Day.......apparently "Enuf is Enuf" blamed the poor weeather in Auckland last Sunday.

    Now that that diversionary side show is finished we can concentrate on saving NZ's vulnerable native plants and birds

    Posted 2 years ago #

34. Tawaki
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    I'm asking this question again of any readers who have any ideas or scientific information that they can share. I think it is the critical information that we need if we are to save landscape scale blocks of fully interacting/functioning natural ecosystems on mainland NZ.

    I'm not interested in only seeing iconic species like kiwi on inaccessible offshore islands or fenced enclosures or zoos.

    We need to know if it is possible to save a full range of critically endangered species through a regular "HANDS OFF' forest pest treatment programme. Unless we can we are condemned to a labour intensive Operation Nest Egg regime tying up huge staff and financial resources.

    My rule of thumb for this work is that once they start giving the kiwis or the kakapos cutsey names, the species managers have lost the basic plot of saving natural ecosystems and instead become "zookeepers".

    Tongariro Kiwis:

    I'm told by DOC that there are an estimated 200 kiwis in Tongariro's 20,000 hectares. If we assume that say half of them breed each year that means there are 50 breeding pairs. At the normal, no pest control treatment, breeding rate of 5% it means that recruitment is about 2.5 new birds a year for the whole forest.

    With the 2006 1080 programme, breeding success increased in the first year 2007 to 69% so that an estimated 35 young kiwis were added to the population. I'm told that in the next year, 2008 the success rate dropped to around 50%-another 25 young birds-and Nic Vallance advises us that this year 2009 the success rate is right down so they have been rescuing young birds from this year. Lets say about 10 kiwi chicks make it. In total then the 2007 pulse of 1080 treatment resulted in a recruitment of about 70 new kiwis into the 200 strong Tongariro population. Natural deaths of old birds also need to be subtracted.

    Tongariro has a low kiwi density anyway compared to some lower altitude forests that haven't been logged.

    I'd be interested in knowing the cost:benefit comparison of restoring Tongariro Forest through regular whole forest 1080 treatment versus the cost of Operation Nest Egg rescuing of kiwi eggs and artificially hatching and breeding them up to "stoat resistant" size.

    Does any one have any numbers/costs for Operation Nest Egg?

    Of course the other key point is that with whole forest treatment of Tongariro there are benefits way beyond kiwi recovery. Whio, robin, fuchsia, insects, kereru will all be benefitting from the control of rats, possums and stoats. Operation Nest Egg only focuses on one species, the kiwi.

    Posted 2 years ago #

35. Tawaki
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    If the last 1080 treatment of Tongariro Forest was in 2006, 3 years ago and Nic Vallance reports that this year (2009) stoat predation is nearly back up to the pre-treatment level prior to 2006, what plans have DOC Tongariro-Taupo got to re-treat Tongariro Forest?

    Posted 2 years ago #

36. Tawaki
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    I have been advised that in Northland there hasn't been much controversy about 1080 use for nature conservation recently.

    Apparently the reason is that DOC Northland have backed off doing 1080 programmes over the critically vulnerable forests of Northland. Clearly that is one of the reasons why the Puketi Forest kokako population has collapsed.

    A QUESTION? If you are a DOC Conservator, under the DOC performance review protocols are you punished in your annual performance review

    MORE for having controversial forest restoration programmes that attract a lot of public debate and headlines

    OR MORE for the quiet loss of all the iconic bird and plant species that made your Conservancy a natural treasure.

    Are those Conservators brave enough to get stuck in and save threatened plants and animals through bold pest control programmes sufficiently recognised and rewarded??

    Posted 2 years ago #

37. CeeJay
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    Perhaps DOC has lost its mojo?

    Posted 2 years ago #

38. auckland anne
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    I was going to suggest that any Conservators who sanction the use of 1080 in areas where it's controversial might be subject to becoming practice-material for keyhole surgical mining ...Or maybe they just don't really want themselves or their families to be held at gunpoint or their houses sprayed with graffitti?

    Posted 2 years ago #

39. CeeJay
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    That's what the police are for. Otherwise we get government by intimidation and thuggery.

    Posted 2 years ago #

40. TrakaBat
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    Hi guys, the anti-1080 programme is a thin tissue. It is maintained by a few people who have been successful at arguing the most absurd points simply because nobody critically checks what they say. They are not experts, not even particulalry skilled, and quite a few of them seen to have hearing problems when it comes to birds. There is plenty of opportunity for those who know how forests and birds function to balance the argument. Have a look at this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I7FAMKuywtk

    Ian Gill (proud to work for DOC)

    Posted 2 years ago #

41. Helen
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    And supported by armed robbers:

    Hamilton film maker Clyde Graf, one of the family duo that claims the moral high ground in the anti 1080 campaign, has convictions for bank robbery.

    He today apologised to his fellow campaigners for any "embarrassment" caused.

    Graf and his brother Steve refer to themselves as "The Graf Boys" and achieved national recognition for their anti-1080 documentaries, A Shadow of Doubt and more recently Poisoning Paradise, which had its national premiere to a full house and acclaim at the Regent Theatre, in Hokitika.

    However, the Greymouth Star has revealed that Clyde Graf and a third brother were sentenced in February 1986 to 10 years' jail for bank robberies in Brisbane, Australia.

    The headline in the Brisbane Courier Mail at the time read 'Silly dream led to brothers being jailed'.

    Clyde Graf is also a professional photographer, whose internet biography says he grew up in New Zealand's outdoors but now "hunts with a camera" photographing wild New Zealand creatures in their natural habitat.

    He initially would not answer questions from the Greymouth Star this morning but issued a statement saying that he had been "young and foolish" when he committed the robberies and regretted his actions.

    He was carrying an imitation pistol and said there was never any real threat of danger to the bank staff.

    "I entered the banks alone, and no one was physically injured.

    "It is important to note that my brother Steve in no way had anything to do with this crime.

    "I thank family and friends for their support, and I apologise to all the people involved with the Poisoning Paradise project if I have caused embarrassment or offence."

    He had accepted the probability that a higher public profile might lead to his past being revealed, but he went ahead anyway because the 1080 issue was so important to him.

    "Because of my past, it would have been easier to have ignored the project, and ignore the information that was revealed. However, I stand by my decision to produce, with my brother Steve, the Poisoning Paradise documentary.

    "This in no way changes my determination to fight the use of 1080 in our country."

    The Grafs have in the past been highly critical of the Animal Health Board and Department of Conservation, but neither organisation wanted to comment on the new revelations today.

    Fascinating ...

    Posted 2 years ago #

42. clairegreen
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    Ian Gill (Trackabat) and everyone from DOC West Coast deserve all our support and congratulations. They are the leading DOC Conservancy in New Zealand in controlling possums, stoats, rats and mice on a vast landscape scale through very effective treating of West Coast native forests with aerial 1080.

    Yellowheads/mohua have now returned in flocks to the Landsborough River where triennial aerial 1080 has been the only treatment system used.

    Whio/Blue Duck are abundant in the Upper Moeraki because of the same treatment.They have no future on offshore islands and fenced sanctuaries, where there are no wild rivers, so aerial 1080 pest control is their only prospect of a future in the wild.

    The Hope River, south of Jacksons Bay, is now NZ's greatest mistletoe stronghold because of the dedicated work on public conservation land by DOC West Coast.

    These public servants have persisted with this important conservation work despite continuous criticism and even personal threats from the anti-1080 campaigners. The DOC staff have seen the stunning results and so they keep on going knowing that without their efforts most of the species above will be facing extinction.

    Well done Trackabat and all your team!

    Posted 2 years ago #

43. CeeJay
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    While I vehemently oppose what they are saying, and how they are saying it, I would take some issue in judging the Grafs on the basis of something they did 20 years ago. We should "play the ball, not the man."

    I work in Prison Services and some of those I engage to rehabilitate prisoners are criminals (several of whom have committed horrendous offences) who have turned their lives around. There is no reason to believe that the Grafs have not done the same and good on them if they have.

    Posted 2 years ago #

44. CeeJay
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    Posted 2 years ago #

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