Category Archives: DOC

Some truth on the alleged threats to DoC staff: an OIA request to Police reveals 9 in the last 31 months, DoC says 93 last month

November 7, 2018 Pam Vernon 9 Comments

(Nov. 2018) If all of this does not convince you of how powerfully the media shapes the public’s perception of reality I’m afraid nothing will. Here we have an obvious skewing of numbers to convince you that people who want clean drinking water, who do not want their food sources poisoned, are actually a bunch of violent terrorists. Quite frankly I think they’ve over skewed it this time. It isn’t a matter of a slight margin of difference, it is a very glaring fudging of the facts. The following article is compiled from information posted from research on the ‘No to 1080 Use in NZ’ Facebook page, and from Carol Sawyer. It includes a further update by Carol following a news item on NewsHub last night.

OIA reveals false claims from DoC

“Can we expect our Government agencies like the New Zealand Department of Conservation (DoC) to tell us the truth?

It would appear not.

Over the past year, there have been increasing claims in the media from people like Lou Sanson, Director-General of the DoC and Nicola Toki, DoC’s ‘Threatened Species Ambassador’ that ‘anti-1080 activists are dangerously out of control’, ‘have gone feral’ and even ‘ are repeatedly making death threats to DoC staff’.

On 31st August this year, we exposed the truth about these lies. We reported the response to an Official Information Act to the New Zealand Police, which asked ‘exactly HOW MANY threats of violence towards DoC staff had been recorded from so-called ‘anti-1080 activists in the past 2 years?’ and perhaps more importantly, ‘how many of these were being upheld?’”

The answer, back then, was six:

Between March 2016 and March 2018 there were a total of only SIX reports of threats to NZ Police, of which, ZERO were being progressed to prosecution. Nil prosecutions. Surprise, surprise!

So since then, from March up to October 2018, how many MORE threats to DoC do you think have been reported to the Police? After all, there was (according to TVNZ in Sept) a “sharp rise in threats to DoC staff”. Numerous media articles have attempted to alarm the public about the ‘dangers’ of ‘anti-1080 activists’. Then there was the commencement of a costly contract with the private security firm, Thompson and Clark (April 2018). Journalists like Tom O’Connor writing opinion pieces with headlines like ‘Anti-1080 protesters’ threats to human life inexcusable’…..
so, how many threats were actually reported to the Police?

THREE.

Yes, that’s right, since March 2018 there has been an ‘explosion’ of the numbers of threats to….um,

the same, on average, as the previous two years.

On 7th of November we have a further update on mainstream media’s reporting :

THREATS TO DoC FROM ANTI-1080 PEOPLE

“Well, well, well – tonight we have the government-driven “drama queens” on Newshub coming up with another fantastical story… DoC is apparently trembling in its boots because of threats to shoot down helicopters, string wires across valleys, etc. Their “wheels have been slashed” and their “tyres loosened”… NONE OF THIS IS TRUE! In the Newshub story …

… not a single shred of evidence for its claims was produced.

The story starts off :

“Newshub can reveal the Prime Minister has received multiple threats from anti-1080 extremists including at least one death threat.” However, when Jacinda Ardern is asked ” Have they threatened your life or safety?” she looks uncomfortable and replies “Er, look I..I have been.. had some incidents, er, that I’ve been made aware of, um, but actually… (and then goes on to say she is more concerned about frontline staff).

Meanwhile, back in the real world where we all not only have to defend ourselves against poison but also against the self-interested exaggerations of the poisoners, two OIA requests reveal exactly …

NINE so-called threats in the last 2 years and 7 months! None has progressed to prosecution.

Lou Sanson says there were NINETY-THREE threats last month. The date on the latest OIA response from the NZ Police is 1 November, 2018. How does this work exactly Lou Sanson?

In case you missed it, here is the news report:

https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/politics/2018/11/exclusive-pm-jacinda-ardern-doc-staff-get-death-threats-from-anti-1080-extremists.html?fbclid=IwAR10IO0_b3tr7O4x4c4VIKdejCEU_28ZJZuE_5pSColcZMlQjiLDQ-BUas8

Below are copies of the latest OIA request to Police:

IN CONCLUSION:

Whether any of the 3 alleged threats will progress to a prosecution, remains to be seen. But if previously reported incidents are anything to go by (e.g. a threatening phone call, and a note left on a DoC vehicle) we doubt it very much.

We need to call out DoC about their constant and tiresome Fake News. And we need to make the media accountable for perpetuating their lies. We need to ask for more evidence whenever DoC make a claim; they are simply untrustworthy.

Some examples of recent Fake News articles below.

“Southern police have also revealed they are investigating several threats made last year to sabotage 1080 operations, including one involving the setting of man traps. Department of Conservation (Doc) operations director southern South Island Aaron Fleming said in recent months there had been an increase in threats and harassment to Doc staff and contractors nationwide, including eight in Otago and Southland.” (Otago Daily Times, 6 Oct 2018)

“There are fears for the safety of conservation workers and contractors after recent attacks on their vehicles. In three instances wheel nuts on the vehicles were loosened in acts believed to be connected to protests over the Conservation Department’s use of 1080 poison for pest management. In the most serious case a contractor avoided injury when a wheel came off while he was driving, after its nuts had been loosened. DOC director-general Lou Sanson said toxic bait had been put in a staff letterbox and he had also seen other threatening posts on Facebook recently.” (New Zealand Radio, 29 Sept 2017)

“DOC appalled at latest 1080 threats to staff: The Department of Conservation (DOC) confirms that it has asked New Zealand Police to investigate after receiving a second threatening letter from an anti-1080 protestor in Taranaki. The aggressive letter intensifies threats against DOC staff and claims more sika deer will be released unless DOC stops its use of 1080 to control predators.” (Scoop, 5 December 2017)

“Sharp rise in threats to DOC as anti 1080 protesters hold mass demonstrations” TVNZ, 1 News: Sept 2018
DoC said the intelligence gathering was necessary because of threats made by anti-1080 activists who in some cases had threatened to shoot down helicopters. “They’ve threatened to kill our staff and their families, we’ve had physical confrontation, and we’ve had instances of tampering with vehicles, loosening wheel nuts. “So we needed a specialist security company to help us with that because we just don’t have the resources or expertise,” Mr Maher said. Threats are collated and assessed by Thompson and Clark as to whether they could likely be carried out. If the risk is high they are forwarded onto police. (Radio New Zealand Checkpoint: DOC Using Thompson and Clarke to monitor anti-1080 activists April 23, 2018)

Department of Conservation staff are facing a torrent of online threats and abuse following a recent spike in anti-1080 protest This is having a consequence for frontline DOC staff, Mrs Toki said incidents of threats and abuse in August were significantly higher than usual. “We had eight incidents in just one month alone where staff were physically confronted, abused or harassed and then we had seven abusive phone calls and emails” She said in addition to that there were countless harassment threats and abuse via social media which were followed up with Netsafe and the police. (Radio New Zealand 18 Sept 2018)

Photo Credit: Pinocchio – Schwerdhoefer at Pixabay.com

1080, DOC, News, Poison

“Twenty years of 1080 in the Haast Valley has killed our kea population”

November 4, 2018 Pam Vernon 4 Comments

By PAMELA ADAMS SUNDAY, OCTOBER 28, 2018

WHERE HAVE ALL THE KEA GONE?

“On the night of the 30th November [the day of the last 1080 drop] a single kea was heard screaming in the trees behind the township. After that the five kea in Haast township were never seen again. Two years later there are still no kea in Haast Township … twenty years of Compound 1080 in the Haast Valley has killed our kea population … and on the 15th November 2018 the Department of Conservation plan to aerially drop Compound 1080 poison again on Haast……”

The photo above is the saddest thing I have seen in years – taken today – a flax bush in full flower and not a single kea to be seen.

Back in November 2010 the flax bushes in Haast township were filled with the noise and antics of kea fighting over the sweet nectar. One evening I saw seven kea in one bush. The next photo was taken on the 10th November 2010……..

44995405_10213440002579345_253415895236345856_n — Kea in flax bushes in Haast township

By April 2016 we had five kea permanently living in the town – this photo below was taken on the 12th April 2016………..

45023251_10213440006859452_8559296215160717312_o — Kea sitting on the roof of the Police Station in Haast township 12th April 2016

But on the 30th November 2016 the Department of Conservation as part of their Battle for our Birds campaign aerial spread Compound 1080 near Haast township (True Left Haast drop zone)……..

44981035_10213440013739624_315726168370184192_o — 1080 signs (Cron Creek) State Highway 6, 1st December 2016

44948240_10213440021979830_4137299441700831232_o — 1080 sign on farm just south of Haast township (State Highway 6th) 30th November 2016

On the night of the 30th November a single kea was heard screaming in the trees behind the township. After that the five kea in Haast township were never seen again. Two years later there are still no kea in Haast Township ………..

So the flax bush flowers and there is nothing to eat its sweet nectar. Compound 1080 does not increase native bird numbers………… Sixty years of Compound 1080 has not saved New Zealand wildlife…….. twenty years of Compound 1080 in the Haast Valley has killed our kea population………..

And on the 15th November 2018 the Department of Conservation plan to aerially drop Compound 1080 poison again on Haast……

Why? There is nothing left to kill.

1080, DOC, News, Poison

A 1080 poison drop in the Manawatu Gorge is imminent

November 3, 2018 Pam Vernon 7 Comments

NOTE re updates: I’m getting updates from people so will add them as I hear. I’ve added info provided via social media about avenues of possible action for Iwi anywhere in NZ who do not want aerial 1080 drops. See below.

Re the FB Share button: I’ve twice had to edit & reinstate it. Sometimes it appears only on the news page when you scroll right down to the article, but not when you’ve clicked on the link to the article. This happens at times with controversial posts. Just a heads up in that you may need to share from the url.

This drop is to take place between October 23 and December 7, or thereabouts depending on the weather. (UPDATE: the walking tracks are closed until after the drop apparently).

Another local who has walked the Gorge area for 20 years says it has always been trapped or bait stationed (see her full comment at the end). This was confirmed by a second person.

If you do live in the Manawatu, please do watch Poisoning Paradise for the information DoC or the Manawatu authorities won’t be telling you.

Poisoning Paradise is a locally made documentary that has won no less than four international environmental film awards, however your Government has banned it from NZ television. I wonder why? Perhaps they don’t want you to see all the evidence and make up your own mind about its safety? You can watch it at this link.

Walking tracks will be closed the article says, however if you walk on them when they open, do be on the lookout for stray baits as they are not always picked up by DoC other observers have noted (as they should be). We have posted photographs of kids standing by them on walking tracks elsewhere in the country. Likewise, don’t take your pets there, dogs are very susceptible to 1080 poisoning and around 65+ dogs die of it each year. It also takes a very long time for poisoned animals to die. A veterinarian says death from 1080 is like two days of electrocution. There is no antidote to 1080 either & a retired NZ Doctor has warned us if you die from it nobody will know because the MoH is bullying Doctors into not testing for it. This is evidenced going by the apparent cover up on the recent poisoning of the Putaruru family, and the same following the death of the 23 year old US hiker in the South Island in 2006 after which the NZ lab lost her heart.

Remember the Government changed the rules so that 1080 can now be dropped directly into your waterways without a resource consent from regional councils. And yet the warning on the manufacturer’s data sheet clearly says do not drop it into waterways. Then there was a former co leader of the Green Party who expressed concern about the testing of post 1080 drop water. The frequency of finding 1080 in water samples is at odds with independent testing he said. Official figures say 1080 is detected only 3% of the time however, from the calculations of an independent scientist that incidence is closer to 60%.

Even if I did believe the official info from DoC on how safe 1080 is in our drinking water, I still would not be drinking it any time soon. Who in their right mind wants to ingest a deadly Class 1A ecotoxin at any stage or amount of dilution?

Stay safe people & look at all the information, not just the official dialogue.

Postscript:

Mary Lewis, a Palmerston North person has written to me stating:

I have walked the Manawatu Gorge Area for about 20 years and have never seen deforestation or signs of possums or rats in day time or night. One of the main reasons for this is that the area has been continually trapped and bait stationed. There are plenty of birds when the food is available. Kererus feed off the Cabbage tree flowers and Nikau flowers and Berries and Tuis are there in number when Ratas and other flowers are available. Ruru and fantails need the insects and 1080 is going to put the whole ecosystem out of wack and fall into the contributing streams of the Manawatu River. DOC knows of the pain and destruction that 1080, especially aerial drops, make on our country, but just ignore any science or facts that go against their actions. Why are they targeting a family friendly track, where people do take their dogs on leashes. This is our country not DOC’s or the Government’s, so why don’t we have a say against poisoning our land.

From social media pages, possible avenues for action for Iwi regarding 1080 aerial drops:

*Due process by law to stop dropping 1080
All whanua/ hapu Maori Incorporations must notify the Councils who to contact and the address of the whanua/ hapu Maori Incorporations Registered Office, so they can inform the whanua/ hapu Maori Inc of any Resource consent applications:So Resource consent has been approved and we whanua/ hapu Maori Inc did not know of it, we can appeal to the Environment Court on 2 grounds:
1) breach of Natural Justice (no Notice)
2) & breach of Natural right ( right to possession of our property)
Also, Court of Appeal overturned “90 Mile beach case” http://archived.ccc.govt.nz/…/SuppLegisClause1Attachment.pdfWhen the Councils contact whanua/ hapu Maori Inc for consultation, tell them to Transfer power to our Inc in terms of Section 33 of R M Act 1991.Each whanau/hapu – Maori Inc to do file :TRESPASS & WRONGFUL OCCUPATION
• is in our jurisdiction
• District Court has no jurisdiction to trespass us.
• So we file the same charges against them in our Marae Court. Section 144Order for Interlocutory Injunction into High Court and give a copy. Sec 75

xiii) Section 8 of RMAct: Rangatiratanga over land, forests, fisheries, estates and all other Taonga tukuiho as in section 2 ( control of Maori land ) in the exercise of Rangatiratanga.

And whereas it is desirable to recognise that land is a taonga tuku iho of special significance to Maori people and, for that reason, to promote the retention of that land in the hands of its owners, their whanau, and their hapu, and to protect wahi tapu: and to facilitate the occupation, development, and utilisation of that land for the benefit of its owners, their whanau, and their hapu

and to protect wahi tapu:

Nā te mea i riro nā te Tiriti o Waitangi i motuhake ai te noho a te iwi me te Karauna: ā, nā te mea e tika ana kia whakaūtia anō te wairua o te wā i riro atu ai te kāwanatanga kia riro mai ai te mau tonu o te rangatiratanga e takoto nei i roto i te Tiriti o Waitangi: ā, nā te mea e tika ana kia mārama ko te whenua he taonga tuku iho e tino whakaaro nuitia ana e te iwi Māori, ā, nā tērā he whakahau kia mau tonu taua whenua ki te iwi nōna, ki ō rātou whānau, hapū hoki, a, a ki te whakangungu i ngā wāhi tapu hei whakamāmā i te nohotanga, i te whakahaeretanga, i te whakamahitanga o taua whenua hei painga mō te hunga nōna, mō ō rātou whānau, hapū hoki: ā, nā te mea e tika ana kia tū tonu he Te Kooti, ā, kia whakatakototia he tikanga hei āwhina i te iwi Māori kia taea ai ēnei kaupapa te whakatinana.
Whereas the Treaty of Waitangi established the special relationship between the Maori people and the Crown: And whereas it is desirable that the spirit of the exchange of kawanatanga for the protection of rangatiratanga embodied in the Treaty of Waitangi be reaffirmed: And whereas it is desirable to recognise that land is a taonga tuku iho of special significance to Maori people and, for that reason, to promote the retention of that land in the hands of its owners, their whanau, and their hapu, and to protect wahi tapu: and to facilitate the occupation, development, and utilisation of that land for the benefit of its owners, their whanau, and their hapu: And whereas it is desirable to maintain a court and to establish mechanisms to assist the Maori people to achieve the implementation of these principles.

it clearly states …………………………… to promote the retention of that land in the hands of its owners, their whanau, and their hapu, and to protect wahi tapu. How to manageand deal with all district councils,

(a) They “must” consult with the whanau/hapu Maori Inc for all Resource consent applications.

(b) Section 20, they must consult with the Maori Land Court for advice.

(d) The rules of Natural justice

(e) Kawanatanga for the protection of Rangatiratanga.
i) Preamble of Te Ture Whenua 1993
ii) Tiriti o Waitangi 1840
Inc at the same time must convene a Hui with beneficiaries, but needs putea, so:
i) charge Council for Resource consent as the owner
ii) set fees to convene a Hui
iii) set fees or expenses for us to consult with our beneficiaries
iv) advertise for general public to make submission to us
v) file a proposal for Resource consent ( ? )
vi) we hear objection for Resource consent

If the Council has an Advisory Committee:
i) we notify them of Transfer of Power
ii) They are unconstitutional
iii) No legal identity to hear any submissions
iv) Unconstituted under Te Ture Whenua 1993
v) Not a legal entity within the meaning of Rangatiratanga
vi) We are constituted under NZ Constitution Act 1852
vii) They constituted under 1986 NZ constitution Act which has no legal entity within the meaning of Te Ture Whenua 1993 Act
viii) 1989 Maori Electoral Act: Royal Commission on Electoral Reform found that Maori Elec–? Had no constitutional aspect, because their inclusion into Parliament is not based on a Maori mandate
ix) But a Maori Inc has a mandate of the Section 5 (Crown)
x) Under sec 247 mandate of Tangata Whenua has Mana whenua
xi) Council cannot, Parliament cannot
xii) After powers are transferred, claim to Council under sec 8
xiii) Section 8 of RMAct: Rangatiratanga over land, forests, fisheries, estates and all other Taonga tukuiho as in section 2 ( control of Maori land ) in the exercise of Rangatiratanga.

Even the Governor General cannot stand in the way of Maori. Section 2 & 5
FORCE A JUDGE to make a Decision

• Sec 2 says I control the land
• Sec 5 says, you are her subject
• Sec 17 (2) says he must abide by the owners wishes
• Sec 17 (2a) says, you must do what you are told
• Sec 6 says, record your decision
• So you tell the Judge to make a decision if he wont, tell him to sit in a corner while you make the decision.

ARCHIVED.CCC.GOVT.NZ

Home » Archived » Christchurch City Council

SOURCE

For other articles on 1080 poison see ‘categories’ (left of news page) and/or visit our 1080 pages (main menu, top of page) especially the ‘Suspected 1080 Poisoning’ one. Our resources page also has much info on groups, sites etc for further info, particularly that of the documentary makers (Poisoning Paradise) tv-wild.com.

Below is the Stuff article about the impending Manawatu aerial drop:

https://www.stuff.co.nz/environment/107901002/1080-drop-planned-for-manawat-gorge?fbclid=IwAR2TN_u63drIsyZDU6qNYUy0lBo8TPBoORwvUaCcO9Mhq4jLORVbeX9OwFU

1080, Conservation, DOC, News, Poison

DoC admits their 1080 rat control operation only lasts 3-6 months … ANNUAL poisoning now for Heaphy Vlly & Coast

November 2, 2018 Pam Vernon 2 Comments

From Carol Sawyer
1 Nov 2018

DoC ADMITS RAT CONTROL ONLY WORKS FOR 3 – 6 MONTHS !!
HEAPHY VALLEY AND COAST – TO HAVE ANNUAL AERIAL 1080 POISONING

I have been sent this letter with the comment “Look at this Carol, this is the first time I have seen DOC admit that the poison only holds back numbers of rodents for 3-6 months!”

It is indeed the first time they have admitted that! DoC say in their letter :

“The Department estimates that each pest control operation will provide a window for native species to breed and thrive that lasts around three to six months before rat numbers start to build up again.”

Look at the attached graph… only five months after the 1080 drop, the rat numbers had become HIGHER than they were at the time of the drop and were continuing to climb.

The 20,667 ha area extends over the western end of the Heaphy track, and the drop will take place between October and December, 2018.

**************************************************************

“7 September, 2018

Dear……

This letter is to let you know abut changes to pest control work happening in the Heaphy Valley and along the Heaphy Coast in the coming year.

The Department is moving to trial an annual rodent control program starting from this year in this area due to consistently high numbers of rats outside operation times. These high numbers are impacting the bird and bat populations in the area and threatening other vulnerable native species.

The Department estimates that each pest control operation will provide a window for native species to breed and thrive that lasts around three to six months before rat numbers start to build up again.

The pest control will be closely monitored to ensure it is obtaining the outcomes needed to protect species.

Over the coming months, we will be conducting a consultation process with landowners, the local community and other interested parties.

A fact sheet containing further information on the pest control in the Heaphy Valley and coast is attached.The map shows the indicative boundaries of the operation.

DoC will be contracting a local pest control operator to carry out the work and notifications will be sent out closer to the time of the operation.

If you would like to discuss any aspect of what is proposed then please do not hesitate to contact me at the address below by September 30th, 2018.

Kind regards,

Jess Curtis
Senior Ranger – Bathurst Project
Dept of Conservation”

1080, DOC, News, Poison

Department of Conservation Independent Poisoned Cow Investigation – nothing “independent” about it (GrafBoys)

October 24, 2018 Pam Vernon 2 Comments

So the authorities have finished investigating themselves … three weeks it’s taken for a truly ‘in depth’ report passing all of the blame predictably, onto the victims of the said drop.

Thanks to the GrafBoys for their truly independent coverage of this issue.

TheGrafBoys

Published on Oct 23, 2018

The Department of Conservation has initiated an ‘independent” investigation following the death of 8 cows killed in its recent aerial 1080 poisoning operation. But is the independent investigation really independent?

1080, Birds, DOC, News, Poison

A NZ Landcare scientist estimates the likely death toll from an Otago 1080 drop in 2002 to be around 10,000 birds

October 14, 2018 Pam Vernon 6 Comments

More evidence on the apparent wanton decimation of NZ’s bird population by the deadly class 1A ecotoxin 1080, banned in most countries, with no antidote, dispensed by helicopters into the bush like a ‘veritable lollie scramble’ as I recently read it described by a person who for a long time worked with both 1080 poison & with DoC.

The late Bill Benfield* in his book, The Third Wave, Poisoning the Land, describes dead birds that were picked up by searchers in 2002 at the Waianakarua Scenic Reserve in North Otago (a 4043 hectare block). (p 71)

Each bird had been grid referenced on a map and at a pest management strategy meeting in Christchurch (May 2009) a Landcare scientist was able to estimate the likely death toll… an astonishing 10,000 birds. Benfield describes the potential possum population in the reserve as being around 7-8,000 in which case he concludes, the pest management people (DoC & AHB) are poisoning more birds than there are possums.

We know of course that 1080 can’t target just non-native birds. So the photos supplied by people of post-drop death counts invariably include examples of both.

paws for a cause 2.jpg — A native Kotare (Kingfisher) found also after a 1080 drop, supplied by Paws for a Cause

kahurangi nat park jim hilton — Another image of a birds following a 1080 drop in Kahurangi National Park .. note the native Kereru and Kotare (supplied by Jim Hilton)

NOTE: the header image is not of the birds in question, these are from Paws 4 a Cause’s Facebook page, collected after another 1080 drop. There are many photos of dead birds collected by people directly after the drops. Regarding this article, there is an actual image supplied by Bill Benfield in his book (p71) however I do not at this stage have permission to use it. Please don’t bother asking for proof these ones died of 1080 poisoning. It is not rocket science as to why a collection such as these died when they were collected directly after a 1080 drop. And besides, the Landcare scientist and the folk at the said pest management strategy meeting in Christchurch, all took it as given that the estimated 10,000 birds died of 1080 POISONING, not other causes. No mention of any other possibilities for death with neither any mention of testing the said birds. Now that these items of information are coming to the fore thanks to investigative writers like Benfield, and to the dedication of the many thousands who recently & historically protested, the said authorities are racing hither and yon suddenly getting the birds tested to ‘prove’ that the folk who simply want clean water & food are getting unnecessarily hysterical.

However, remember the 89 dead kiwi that DoC didn’t bother to test for possible 1080 poisoning? I rest my case. Clearly the authorities can no longer rest on their laurels and assume that the trusting NZ public are asleep like they used to be.

* About the late William (Bill) Benfield:

William Benfield was an environmentalist author who wrote three books. The first two dealt with the widespread use of 1080 poison in New Zealand. The first is titled At War with Nature-Corporate Conservation & the Industry of Extinction, (find on Amazon) the second, cited in the article above, is “The Third Wave: Poisoning the Land”. His third book is called Water: Quality and Ownership.

Read Amazon’s commentary on At War with Nature: Corporate Conservation and the Extinction Industry:

“This is a book about how the destruction of one of the world’s most unique, ancient and unspoiled wilderness areas has led to the growth of an international industry eradicating animals and plants which have been deemed to be “invasive”. That is because they are where pseudo-scientists say they should not be. What New Zealand began as an industrialised extermination has now become island eradications in many parts of the world. To expand and grow, it must either seek more islands, or widen its scope to cover whole nations; that is what it is now doing.
The parasitic riders who drive this conservation gravy train are:-
•Government conservation agencies who seek to increase their bureaucratic power and influence,
•The agri-chemical industry who supply the chemicals and poisons.
•The powerful and wealthy conservation charities who whip up the concept of “threats to nature” as a way generating donations, bequests and corporate sponsorships.
•The academic and science institutions who see in it a rich seam of grant money for supplying junk science in support of the eradication industry.
Eradications are carried out on a scale reminiscent of the US military aerial deforestation of Vietnam with “agent orange”. Here, for all wildlife, the animals, birds and insects, the poisons used are super-toxins such as brodifacoum and 1080. For vegetation, they have devised new wonder chemical cocktails such as “Armageddon”. It is total ecosystem genocide.
To whip up a public fervour to help justify such mass environmental poisoning, the people are fed the concepts of invasive pests and threats. Thus, harmless creatures are demonised and need be shown no mercy. By deliberate and devious propaganda, the public are kept unaware, that in the blinkered rush of zeal to kill “pests” and “predators”, the eradication industry is killing everything else, even the rare and endangered species such as an entire monitored population of rock wrens from an aerial 1080 poisoning at New Zealand’s Kuhurangi National Park.
It is a war against nature.”

A further article featuring Bill Benfield from Stuff:

Riparian planting does not counter nitrate runoff says environmentalist author

1080, DOC, News, Poison

The NZ Govt is teaching your child that Class 1A ecotoxin 1080, banned by most countries, is ‘not very dangerous to humans’

October 5, 2018 Pam Vernon 5 Comments

Note: As your kids head back to school, keep an eye out for the poison propaganda. IMO it is not acceptable to send an official text book message to young children that a class 1A ecotoxin, classed by WHO as ‘highly hazardous’, is not very dangerous to humans. There is no antidote to this poison & it is frequently found lying around for weeks on end after aerial drops. (21/1/2019)

Over all, this item featuring a Year 10 Science book & its fairly ho hum description of the toxicity of 1080, appears to be normalizing the use of poisons.

Dr Meriel Watts says about 1080 poison:

“1080 is classed by the World Health Organisation as an Extremely Hazardous pesticide (Class 1a WHO). You may not be aware that as such it falls within the category of Highly Hazardous Pesticides for which the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO) is seeking a global phase out.

42093980_2210072019273112_6648787559516209152_n — Image & info supplied by Carol Sawyer

There is no antidote for 1080. Poisoned by it, you have no hope of being saved. However, our esteemed authorities in higher places have seen fit to describe it to our children as not very dangerous to humans. Wherever you stand on the use of 1080, be it for or against, I would still call such a description of an acutely toxic poison for your children’s information, highly irresponsible.

THIS IS WHAT OUR YEAR 10 NEW ZEALAND SCHOOL PUPILS ARE BEING TAUGHT!

This is from Science Plus, Book 2, Year 10. Why is the government allowed to teach our children lies?

Read the data on 1080 straight from the manufacturer’s info:

HAZARD IDENTIFIERS:
Priority Identifiers – Danger. Deadly Poison. Keep out of reach of
children. Ecotoxic.
Secondary Identifiers – Acutely toxic. May be fatal if swallowed,
inhaled or absorbed through the skin. Repeated oral exposure may
cause reproductive or developmental damage. When handling open
containers or baits, wear protective equipment as indicated below.
Toxic to terrestrial vertebrates. Take measures to reduce the risk of nontarget
animals being exposed to the toxin either through eating baits or
by scavenging the carcasses of poisoned animals. Harmful to aquatic
organisms. Manage bait application rates carefully and comply with any
restrictions imposed on placing baits over or near waterways. Avoid
pollution of any water supply with pellets or used container.

DANGEROUS GOODS

CLASS:
0.04% – 0.1% 6.1C (Packaging Group III)
0.15% – 0.2% 6.1B (Packaging Group II)
GENERAL
REQUIREMENTS:
Deadly Poison. Subject to tracking requirements for individual packs.
Available for purchase and use only by holders of Controlled
Substances Licenses. This substance must be under the control of an
Approved Handler for Class 6 and Class 9 Hazardous substances at all
times unless being transported by a transport operator with a Dangerous
Goods License endorsement. SOURCE: Orillion Safety Data Sheet

1080 is NOT a natural substance.. it is a synthetic poison, a World Health Organisation Class 1A ecotoxin, banned in most countries. It is extremely dangerous to humans. One standard teaspoon of pure 1080 poison can kill 100 grown men. One 1080 bait (0.15% pure poison) can kill a child.

Over all, the use of poisons appears to be becoming very normalized. Videos like this below certainly illustrate that.

I read an article yesterday by Geoff Booth, a Kiwi and a B.Sc. who worked for a long time in pest eradication using poisons including 1080 & with DoC, so is very knowledgeable in the use of 1080. He said the US manufacturers are dismayed at the way we in NZ use 1080, in a totally opposite way to the labelled recommendations, ie it is ‘chucked around in a veritable lollie scramble in the bush from helicopters’.

Those of us who have lived more than 50 years on the planet know that there was little mention of poison in our childhoods. If you personally think it’s fine for our kids, you need to read Dr Meriel Watts’ book, Poisoning Our Future: Children and Pesticides.

“Poisoning Our Future: Children and Pesticides” The book details the scientific evidence for the insidious effects of pesticides on children and calls on government institutions to adopt a more precautionary approach to better protect human health and the environment.

Toxic chemicals such as pesticides pollute our surroundings – from the food we eat, the water we drink, and the air we breathe in our homes, farms, communities, at schools and work and even our own bodies. Children are exposed to these pesticides and are very much vulnerable to the negative health effects of these harmful chemicals. Yet, governments and industry overlook these impacts on children’s health despite the availability of safer alternatives to pesticides.

According to Pesticide Action Network Aoteoroa New Zealand author, Dr Meriel Watts, “Children are not little adults. The activities they do make them more prone to accumulate pesticides in their bodies; and their developing bodies make them more prone to the negative effects of toxic chemicals such as pesticides. Yet government regulatory processes and tests do not look into these effects,” according to Dr Meriel Watts, author of the book. Tests used to approve use of pesticides do not look into endocrine disruption which can impact the physical, intellectual and behavioural development of the foetus and young child. The effects can include ADHD and autism and even conditions like obesity and breast cancer that can show up later in life in what is now referred to as the “foetal origins of adult disease”. Some childhood cancers like leukaemia have been linked to the exposure of parents to pesticides. Highly hazardous pesticides also damage the developing immune, nervous and reproductive systems.

SOURCE: https://foodmattersnz.com/14-15th-february-2015/poisoning-our-future-children-and-pesticides/

If you’ve been reading our articles for a while you’d be aware of photographs featuring children with their parents finding baits all over walking tracks. Here is one from the South Island recently posted by Carol Sawyer. You can read the full article here.

School holidays & children with 1080 baits in the Timaru Creek aerial 1080 drop zone July 2018 Photo: supplied

For further articles on 1080 use the ‘categories’ drop down box at the left of the news page. Check out the 1080 pages at the main menu, particularly the sub tab, ‘suspected 1080 poisoning cases’. Educate yourself on the risks & protect your children. Read them the data safety sheets in a child friendly manner. Discuss the risks & caution them never to touch the 1080 baits.

Finally, remember what the retired MD Charlie Baycroft said recently … ‘if you die from 1080 poisoning, nobody will know because the Ministry of Health is bullying NZ Doctors into not testing for 1080′.

POSTSCRIPT:

(1) A week after writing this, a Facebook post describes a child in the family announcing “they had someone from DOC come into school and give a big talk about conservation and the need for 1080”. Better to get proactive then parents & have a chat with your child’s school about your preferences around what they learn on the poison topic.

(2) Someone has emailed the Poisons Centre on topic:

Kia ora,

Thank you for your email regarding high school science text books. The National Poison Centre is an emergency service that provides emergency first aid and treatment advice over the phone. We are not involved in legislation, lobbying, or teaching of science in education facilities.

I would recommend continuing to contact the Ministry of Education, or if unsuccessful contacting your local Member of Parliament to liase with Ministry on your behalf.

Nāku nā
Yvette Millard
Yvette Millard, BSc., MSc (Otago) Nat Dip Amb Pract (L5)
Poisons Information Specialist
National Poisons Centre / Te Pokapū Mātauranga Tāoke
University of Otago
P.O. Box 913
Dunedin 9054
New Zealand
Poison advice (NZ): ‪0800 764766‬ (0800 POISON)
Poison advice (World): ‪+ 64 3 4797248‬
Admin: ‪+ 64 3 4797227‬
Fax: ‪+ 64 3 4770509‬
Health professionals: ‪www.toxinz.com‬
Parents and caregivers: ‪www.poisons.co.nz‬

Good morning,

I am very concerned after viewing a year 10 science text book on an anti poison social media page The information within the text book is incorrect and highly dangerous, to elude that one of the worlds deadliest poisons, Compound 1080 with no known antidote, ‘is not that poisonous to humans’ is ludicrous and downright evil.

How are children meant to know any different about the dangers of this poison if this is what they are taught at schools in New Zealand!!

This textbook information directly contradicts the manufacturers warning label & manufacturers data sheet:

Deadly poison. Keep out of reach of children
Avoid all waterways.
Deadly to aquatic life.
Will decompose at temperatures over 200 degrees.
Avoid secondary poisoning.
Poisoned carcasses should be burned completely or buried deeply at hazardous waste landfill
https://www.pestoff.co.nz/
assets/sds1080solution.pdf

Please alert the Ministry of Education to this terrible error! I have already emailed them with no success to have this textbook removed from the curriculum.

I look forward to your reply.

Yours sincerely,

LINK SUPPLIED

http://www.toxinz.com/?fbclid=IwAR2evsqsfINx3XB6AiQDuIdfRvXdzDtQ2W91LH0T7G9Bu4QmASM3ivrR0Ok

1080, agenda 21/30, Conservation, DOC, News, UN

Who is really driving Pest Free NZ (PFNZ) – what you aren’t being told

October 2, 2018 Pam Vernon 21 Comments

An excellent article here that throws much needed light on the 1080 poison issue. So here it is in plain sight. Agenda 21, kicked off at the Earth Summit in 1992. If the prevention of biodiversity loss caused by alien species was so above board why are they not selling it to the general public in its original terms? And as I keep repeating, if this UN document were truly about their so called sustainable practices we should by now be seeing some results. Instead we see unprecedented pollution, environmental destruction, poverty, inequality, homelessness & debt. And aside from all of that, what is sustainable about poisoning the entire environment? What is sustainable about poison, period? Oh, that’s right, certain corporate profits.

By J James at infonews.co.nz

What is driving the Pest Free NZ Agenda and the hysteria in eradicating non native species. Answer – International agreements and a global agenda to purge all non native species of animals and plants around the world.

Its wise to know that when you stand up to protest DOC for the tortuous deaths it is perpetrating on innocent animals, that you are confronting not just DOC or the current minister or politician but a host of unelected bureaucrats who manage all the various global agreements NZ has signed up to. These bureaucrats ensure that things run smoothly. The minister and the politicians are an interface between us and them. John Key called these global organisations the clubs

There is much more to this story that you can research yourself but the core thing here is that NZ is part of a much bigger extremist idea under the guise of protecting biodiversity – or purism as I call it – where everything and anything non native and not productive to human use will be destroyed.

While you browse through these sites you will read a language that appears benign and even needed, yet the practical application and act of killing so many innocent species unlucky to find themselves in another country is horrendous to contemplate and makes me wonder about the sanity of this human race.

Nature abhors a vacuum and will do anything to balance her eco system and can usually do it – its called adaption its called evolution. When ‘man’ decides to play god then unintended consequences abound and we are all put at risk. That we now stand at the edge of this psychopathic agenda of death, we must pause for a moment and consider how industry with the approval of governments have deforested the planet to feed its voracious appetite for money for economic growth at all costs . There has been a huge cost – industry enabled by governments have destroyed so much of the world’s natural habitat that species extinction has become so obvious. The shock of this has forced the agenda of biodiversity loss using eradication of non native species as a means to address it.

Here in NZ it is seen most noticeably in the dropping of poison out of helicopters into pristine ecosystems, rendering them silent.
When New Zealand announced its Predator Free NZ vision it wasn’t as if suddenly someone in the Department of Conservation woke up with a great idea – it was a directive NZ had to follow as part of being a member of the United Nations. They never mention this.

There is a global agenda to rid every nation in the world of any and all non native species – animals and plants – non productive species that is – cows and sheep bulls and horses and domestic pigs will stay because they are part of industry and form the back bone of many economies. But the rest that are not needed will be eradicated.

This is the global agenda and it’s time we knew where this kill kill mentality actually came from.

New Zealand is a member of the IUCN which stands for International Union for Conservation of Nature – on the international stage NZ is part of the Oceania group run by the Department of Conservation. Its government agencies are:

New Zealand conservation Authority – which is an advisory body to the department of conservation. Members include Kerry Prendergast currently chair of the EPA – NZ tourism board amongst others you can read about the members here.
Landcare Research New Zealand Ltd – Landcare Research is one of seven Crown Research Institutes (CRIs) formed in 1992. CRIs function as independent companies but are owned by, and accountable to, the New Zealand Government.
Antarctica New Zealand directors can be seen here

The IUCN was founded in 1948. Taken from their website it says this:

”….located near Geneva, Switzerland. The Union brings together 86 states, 120 government agencies, 825 national and 92 international non-governmental organisations, 34 affiliate organisations and through its Commissions about 11,000 experts and scientists from more than 160 countries around the world…”

IUCN’s mission is to influence, encourage and assist societies throughout the world to conserve the integrity and diversity of nature and to ensure that any use of natural resources is equitable and ecologically sustainable. The Union has three components: its member organisations, its six scientific commissions, and its professional secretariat.

IUCN is the only environmental organisation to have official observer status at the United Nations General Assembly.

NGOs connected to this in NZ are:

Environment and Conservation Organisations NZ you can find out more about them here
Royal Forest and Bird Protection Society
the board can be found here Kevin Hague is their face and voice
World Wide Fund for Nature, New Zealand directors can be found here

They all aim for ecological integrity (purity, my word).

All over the world the word has gone out that all creatures great and small that are not indigenous to that land will be terminated. It’s not just New Zealand

IUCN GUIDELINES FOR THE PREVENTION OF BIODIVERSITY LOSS CAUSED BY ALIEN INVASIVE SPECIES

”….. Biological diversity faces many threats throughout the world. One of the major threats to native biological diversity is now acknowledged by scientists and governments to be biological invasions caused by alien invasive species. The impacts of alien invasive species are immense, insidious, and usually irreversible. They may be as damaging to native species and ecosystems on a global scale as the loss and degradation of habitats…”

its goals and objectives are …. sound familiar?

”……to prevent further losses of biological diversity due to the deleterious effects of alien invasive species. The intention is to assist governments and management agencies to give effect to Article 8 (h) of the Convention on Biological Diversity, which states that: “Each Contracting Party shall, as far as possible and as appropriate: …(h) Prevent the introduction of, control or eradicate those alien species which threaten ecosystems, habitats or species….”

Then there is the CBD which is Convention on Biodiversity and is a legally binding multilateral treaty from the UN of which NZ is a member. It has three main goals:

“…The conservation of biological diversity (or biodiversity); the sustainable use of its components; and the fair and equitable sharing of benefits arising from genetic resources.

In other words, its objective is to develop national strategies for the conservation and sustainable use of biological diversity. It is often seen as the key document regarding sustainable development. The Convention was opened for signatures at the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro on 5 June 1992 and entered into force on 29 December 1993. At the 2010 10th Conference of Parties (COP) to the Convention on Biological Diversity in October in Nagoya, Japan, the Nagoya Protocol was adopted…”

or said another way

Protecting Biodiversity.

“….The current decline in biodiversity is largely the result of human activity and represents a serious threat to human development. Despite mounting efforts over the past 20 years, the loss of the world’s biological diversity, mainly from habitat destruction, over-harvesting, pollution and the inappropriate introduction of foreign plants and animals, has continued. Biological resources constitute a capital asset with great potential for yielding sustainable benefits.

Urgent and decisive action is needed to conserve and maintain genes, species and ecosystems, with a view to the sustainable management and use of biological resources…”

Another part of this is the Invasive Species Specialty group

Their mission statement says:
“….The Invasive Species Specialist Group (ISSG) aims to reduce threats to natural ecosystems and the native species they contain by increasing awareness of invasive alien species, and of ways to prevent, control or eradicate them….”

When you hear the DoC and the minister for the Environment talk of eradicating species this is what they are talking about . This is what they are instructed to do as a member state of the UN.

Here in NZ we are watching the eradication of wild game – food that many rely on to feed their families – hunting is as kiwi as rugby – but a wild food industry is being slowly eradicated under the guise of PFNZ .

NZ has no wild mammals as such, all wild game including trout existing here now is non native and earmarked for eradication, despite them being brought in over 100 years ago. The various NZ bodies of these organisations do not come out directly and say this of course, instead they are doing it by stealth, and the best tool in the box for this eradication appears to be the deadly Sodium fluoroacetate commonly referred to as 1080.

SOURCE

https://www.infonews.co.nz/news.cfm?l=1&t=0&id=117063

1080, DOC, News, Poison

The very Govt organization that issues consents for 1080 drops is to conduct the ‘independent’ review of DoC’s recent aerial operation that killed 8 cows

September 30, 2018 Pam Vernon 2 Comments

“Waikato Regional Council will undertake the independent review.“ NZ Herald.

This is all very in-house isn’t it? Not unlike how the Police investigate themselves. Or how Monsanto long ago in the 1970s tested Roundup themselves for safety. Also a bit like asking the second hand car dealer to check over the car you are looking to purchase.

Dr Meriel Watts appealed to Environment Waikato (now Waikato Regional Council, WRC) in 2010 to desist from the use of 1080 as they considered the issuing of up to 20 year consents for aerial dispersal of the said product:

“Re: EPRO and EcoFX Resource Consent Applications

Dear Mr Laing,

I am writing to you on behalf of Pesticide Action Network Aotearoa New Zealand to express our profound opposition to Environment Waikato’s anachronistic proposal to allow 10- or 20-year resource consents to EPROand EcoFX to aerially disperse 1080 in the region.

As you are no doubt aware, 1080 is classed by the World Health Organisation as an Extremely Hazardous pesticide (Class 1a WHO). You may not be aware that as such it falls within the category of Highly Hazardous Pesticides for which the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO) is seeking a global phase out.

That Environment Waikato is contemplating 10 or 20 year consents to use, let alone aerially disperse, 1080, when a UN agency is promoting a global phase out of all such pesticides is extraordinary. I can only assume that you officers are not aware of the situation.

To issue consents of 10 or more years duration also flies in the face of ERMA’s concern about such on-going widespread dispersal of 1080 in the environment, and their support for more research into alternatives. There will be no room for introduction of alternatives in the EW region if these consents are granted.”

1080 is a broad-spectrum poison: it kills all oxygen-breathing animals and organisms. This alone is reason enough to cease dispersing it into the environment. It indiscriminately kills and contaminates everything from the insects that underpin the native fauna food chain to precious native birds, dogs and farm animals. There are so many recorded instances that there is no need to elaborate on them here. Nor the fact that the suffering of these animals on the way to death is extremely inhumane.

That New Zealand has such a history of poisoning its indigenous species, livestock and companion animals is a shame we have to live with. But we do not need to perpetuate it. Thankfully the era of poisoning everything we don’t like is passing, and intelligent new, targeted approaches to pest management are taking its place.

It is time now for Environment Waikato to move forward with the rest of the world, and introduce alternatives. Trapping has been shown to be an effective method of controlling possums, at the same time utilising a valuable resource for the benefit of the national economy, and trapping technology is continually improving. On the other hand, years of experience of 1080 dispersal has shown that this approach is not sustainable, it has to be repeated at regular intervals, each time with its negative consequences for the environment.

Pesticide Action Network therefore urges you to reject the idea of extended resource consents for aerial dispersal of 1080, and to instead focus your resources on rapid introduction of sustainable, environmentally friendly, and socially supportive alternatives such as trapping.

Yours sincerely,

Meriel Watts, PhD,

Pesticide Action Network

SOURCE

When a PHD & author of 2 well known books* on the effects of poisons on human beings & environments, takes the time to warn those who are mandating widespread poisoning of the environment of the dangers therein, you would think that that authority would heed the warning. But no, not only have they continued dropping 1080, it increases yearly. And the rules have even been changed so that 1080 can be delivered straight into waterways without a consent from council!

Indeed since that time the Government itself has been busy making the product for the country (NZ) that was already using 80% or thereabouts of the world’s supply. Cleverly re branding it to make its image slightly more palatable to the non questioning public.

We are expected to now believe that an investigation into this recent incident involving the death of 8 cows (including aborted calves) by the very organization that is not only a branch of the same tree and pro 1080, will be independent?

They are all under the same Government umbrella! DoC, Regional Council, Orillion. May as well save themselves the time, money & effort because we can fairly safely bet on what the outcome will be.

*(The Poisoning of New Zealand, 1994 – and – Pesticides and Breast Cancer, 2007)

1080, DOC, News, Poison

With an estimated 158 stock deaths pa in NZ, DoC’s proposed independent review of the Waikato 1080 drop that killed 8 cows is rare indeed

September 29, 2018 Pam Vernon 4 Comments

So … “the Department of Conservation (DOC) is taking the extraordinary step of getting an independent review of a 1080 operation in which cows were subsequently killed…” (tvnz)

“Extraordinary” alright. In the midst of the growing current NZ-wide distrust of the poison that’s constantly been touted as next to harmless, DoC appears to be in damage control mode as their 1080 edifice cracks & crumbles, making much here of the scenario that the cows allegedly broke through a fence to the 1080-treated adjacent area. Listen to the video however as this family are interviewed. A lot of questions remain unanswered. Scrambling to control the public perception of 1080 now with independent reviews to prove their credibility, yet killing 89 of NZ’s iconic treasured native Kiwi garnered not ONE test to see if any of them died of 1080 poisoning. Small wonder they are losing credibility. Then was their opportunity to prove to us all that the Kiwi did not die of 1080 poisoning but back then the public believed all the glossy brochures that told us only pests died from 1080.

One of the owners notes that they have not found one dead possum (one of those pests we’re told are ‘targeted’, a miracle given 1080 kills ALL oxygen breathing animals and organisms, including insects … it was developed initially as an insecticide) … and to state the obvious, this land could clearly have been covered by bait stations. Why was an aerial drop used? We are frequently told aerial drops are required for inaccessible areas. It is routinely applied however ‘near homes, farm boundaries, public highways and into rivers from which drinking water is drawn’. Many examples of this have been highlighted more recently as the issue has come under closer scrutiny.

The point here also is, this is not an isolated & rare incident. DoC’s investigation of such incidents however is. They should really order reviews on all of the other stock deaths that slipped under the radar, many on account of being hidden in the paperwork. Yes farmers are asked to declare their stock deaths (farmers who want compensation for those losses) as something other than stock deaths. Hear farmers interviewed on that at this link.

A working document summarizing significant poisoning events connected to aerial poisoning for pest control in NZ estimates the total numbers of deaths in farmed deer/cattle as being 3,408, estimated in 1976 to be approximately 158 per year. This would total approx. 10,000 since 1954. Actual recorded data is likely to be a small percentage of the whole total.

Dr Meriel Watts records the incident in the ’90s where 570 sheep were poisoned by 1080, with sheep still dying six months later.

Total numbers of dogs: could be as high as 6816 per year which equals 429,408 over 63 years of aerial poisoning operations.

Total numbers of human poisoning incidents: approx. 31 individuals (more pending)

Read the full information at this link.

Below is a link to tvnz’s article on the independent review.

https://www.tvnz.co.nz/one-news/new-zealand/doc-orders-rare-independent-review-waikato-1080-drop-killed-cows

1080, DOC, News, Poison, Water

Fight against 1080 goes to Te Taitokerau Māori Land Court

September 27, 2018 Pam Vernon Leave a comment

A must watch is yesterday’s interview of Alan Gurden & Emille Leaf. They refer to the problems raised in this article that 1080 is purportedly addressing.

The article below is from Herald:

An urgent injunction has been lodged in the Māori Land Court Te Taitokerau to stop the Department of Conservation making 1080 drops over public or private land.

The injunction was accepted at the Te Taitokerau land court in Whangārei on Thursday afternoon on the grounds of the urgency of the case, said a spokesman for the applicants.

The injunction will be considered today.

Lodged by Northland men Riki Ngatoki and Hayward Brown, it was prepared with the help of Nga Tikanga Māori Law Society Inc.

The Department of Conservation (DoC) is due to drop 1080 poison over Russell State Forest and part of Cape Brett in the next two weeks, weather permitting, after laying taster bait last week.

A spokeswoman said a copy of the injunction was delivered to the Whangārei office late last week.

DoC has called off all planned drops until the outcome of the injunction is known, she said. DoC could not comment further while the matter was in that process.

The injunction did not specify the Northland drops but applied to the use of 1080 anywhere over Māori land in New Zealand, Ngatoki said.

Another case is expected to be heard in the Environment Court this week, lodged by Auckland opponents of 1080 trying to stop a drop in the Hunua Ranges.

But Nga Tikanga Māori Law considers the matter its injunction is based on is about land and ownership rights.

It is understood Māori Land Court injunction refers to land boundaries and legal descriptions in the intended Northland drop zone.

Ngatoki said the underlying argument is about returning to tangata whenua the right to say what happens on Māori-owned land. He said poisoning the land and water was not part of the values of past generations or of tikanga Māori.

https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=12129942

Photo: Carol Sawyer

1080, DOC, Hikoi of a Poisoned Nation, News, Poison

1080 propaganda exposed by Alan Gurden & Emille Leaf

September 26, 2018 Pam Vernon 1 Comment

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dXgaAGNpn9c&feature=share

Vinny Eastwood

Streamed live 25 Sept 2018

Support Vinny on Patreon! http://www.patreon.com/vinnyeastwood We will break down a recent Newshub piece about 1080 and explain the compound 1080 as it relates to: -The Treaty -Kaitiakitanga -Blatant Arrogance -Bribery -Conflict of interest -Lack of transparency -Nepotism -Mitochondrial disorders and Featherston -Cover ups -Taking posts down when they’re already public knowledge -“tens of thousands of dead deer” PLEASE SUBSCRIBE TO THE CHANNEL AND CLICK THE LITTLE BELL TO GET NOTIFIED WHEN NEW VIDEOS ARRIVE! The Vinny Eastwood Show, Helping The Truth Be Heard Since 2008! DONATE AND SUPPORT THE SHOW FROM JUST $1 PER MONTH! Official Patreon: http://www.patreon.com/vinnyeastwood Official Paypal Email: guerillamedia77@gmail.com Official Kiwibank: VMAN COMPANIES LIMITED 38-9010-0455296-00 YOU CAN ALSO HELP BY SHARING! LIKING! SUBSCRIBING! COMMENTING! CLICK THE LITTLE BELL FOR NOTIFICATIONS! Official Website: http://www.thevinnyeastwoodshow.com/ Official Youtube Channel: http://www.youtube.com/c/vinnyeastwoodnz Official Twitter: http://twitter.com/guerillamedia Official Facebook Group: http://www.facebook.com/groups/141053… Official Facebook Page: http://www.facebook.com/VinnyEastwood…

1080, DOC, News, Poison

DoC 1080 drop kills 8 cattle – farmers tell their story (the GrafBoys)

September 23, 2018 Pam Vernon 3 Comments

TheGrafBoys

Published on Sep 21, 2018

On the 6th of September the Department of Conservation aerially spread 1080 poison bait across the Mapara Reserve. The baits were also spread less than 200 metres from the Stone family home. 8 cows were killed as a result of the operation, and in this exclusive interview, the farmers involved discuss what happened, and why they’re at odds with the Department of Conservation…. click the link to view the interview … https://youtu.be/uLV1uNaTlA0

1080, Chemical Warfare, DOC, News, Poison, Water

DoC’s lawyers ask the judge that their scientist not be questioned in the Hunua Ranges 1080 drop case

September 15, 2018 Pam Vernon 6 Comments

A wee ‘small’ reminder of the honesty of the plebs who run the NZ corporation …

Remember this post on social media? September just gone? QUOTE:

“I was there last week
Doc wouldn’t let our lawyer cross examine their scientists and court allowed that. Lawyer won hands down against doc
They couldn’t prove 1080 safety…..TOTAL CORRUPTION
Our lawyer proved by DoC’s own files they were lying …but we LOST”

NOTE: SINCE THIS POSTED, I’VE HEARD THE DROP IS NOT GOING AHEAD AT THIS STAGE. STILL IN COURT…. (PS 19/1/2019 … it DID of course go ahead).

Why do they not want their scientist cross examined? Couldn’t stand the heat? Don’t have the back up science for their data? Could be anybody’s guess but certainly not rocket science. Whatever side of the fence you sit on the 1080 issue, this is about justice of which there appears to be very little these days, remembering Graeme Sturgeon for instance & his ‘win’ that left him with $23K court costs. Looking from afar here we are being sent a very clear message which I’m sure you can figure out for yourselves.

Further comment from Facebook today:

“I was there last week
DoC wouldn’t let our lawyer cross examine their scientists and court allowed that. Lawyer won hands down against DoC
They couldn’t prove 1080 safety…..TOTAL CORRUPTION
Our lawyer proved by DoC’s own files they were lying …but we LOST”

1080, DOC, News, Poison

Predator free 2050 – creating a generation who ‘find killing animals weirdly addictive’

September 1, 2018 Pam Vernon 7 Comments

The new move by Predator Free 2050 to eradicate cats. A new insidiously inhumane killer poison on a par with 1080 in terms of cruelty is already being trialed in the Hawke’s Bay.

Thanks to The Truth About 1080 Poison Facebook page for the link to this article from Bob Kerridge. Bob has had a long and distinguished professional career in animal welfare, during which time he has been responsible for many creative and innovative initiatives that have enhanced the status and welfare of animals in the New Zealand community. You can read more about him at the end of the article.

As requested by Bob I’m adding an image he supplied.

COMPANION ANIMALS IN AOTEAROA
OPINION – Bob Kerridge, Animal Welfarist.

The average peace-loving New Zealander may not be aware of it but, apparently, we are at war. If you find this difficult to comprehend, and a little frightening, for verification you need go no further than listen to the war-like rhetoric emanating from the people at Predator Free-2050.

This new, but generously funded, movement has a clear mission: To be rid of all predators, (whatever or whoever they may be), by the year 2050, with its website calling us to arms urging us to ‘unite to fight’. The dialogue from command headquarters tells us that the ‘threat of invasion is here’ but that “we have an army of tens of thousands of New Zealanders’ to undertake ‘a military campaign to push the invaders back, just as we did in the last two world wars’.
This disturbing talk exemplifies a dangerous path down which we are being led which could result in an ecological disaster because of this new-found obsession to become predator free. In a recently published paper two eminent ecologists, Professor Wayne Linklater and Dr Jamie Steer, are critical of the methodology being employed: ‘While Predator Free-2050 is well intentioned’, they concluded, ‘New Zealand’s future conservation policies need to be less bombastic, and better informed by the environmental, ecological and social sciences’. In a separate interview Linklater went further when he stated that New Zealanders would regard being ‘cruelty free’ a far greater goal than ‘predator free’, an aspiration with which I totally concur.

Not surprisingly the troops being deployed to free us of all these predators is the Department of Conservation, (DoC), who of course are willing and able to do the job. In my naivety I used to believe that conservation meant preserving our special and unique biodiversity, until I heard the previous Minister, Maggie Barry, proudly proclaiming for all to hear that ‘my guys at Doc are incredibly good at killing things’. Given there are many dedicated individuals employed by DoC who labour long and hard to preserve the lives of many of our endangered species, and more power to them, this was a foolish and heartless statement to make. It is little wonder that a number of previously employed high-ranking scientists are describing the current atmosphere at DoC as ‘toxic’ with a ‘culture of war and a lot of discontent’.

Dr Arian Wallach of the University of Technology, Sydney, and Fellow of the Charles Darwin University, described the essence of conservation succinctly when she stated: ‘The aim of conservation is not to generate an ever increasing (dead) body count, but to guide human behaviours to enable the rest of the earth’s species to flourish’.

The major weapon in DoC’s vast armoury, and akin to the H-bomb, is sodium fluoroacetate, (1080), a cheap and particularly nasty pesticide which is as indiscriminate in whom it targets as it is efficient in killing them. Registered as the most toxic pesticide by the World Health Organisation it was the only chemical weapon reportedly found in Saddam Hussein’s arsenal. 1080 is outlawed in a large number of countries, but to our absolute shame New Zealand has been using it since it was first trialled here in 1954. Despite growing public abhorrence, we are now purchasing 80% of the total supply, making us by far the largest user in the world.

The evils of 1080 are well documented including its permanent effect on our flora and fauna, destroying micro-organisms and insects, (the diet of many birds), the contamination of our waterways, human health risks, the slow and agonising death of untargeted animals, (both large and small), and also, ironically, many of the native birds it’s meant to be protecting. And yet, despite this history I am told that last year 350 million poison baits were dropped on our little country, thus perpetuating what can only be described as a national disgrace.

So just who are these invaders that, as Predator Free-2050 advocates, need this military effort to defeat ‘because it is a very insidious war they have waged’ against us’? The irony is that these so-called invading species have no ability or desire to declare war, or any concept of what is being plotted against them, or why, neither have they the ability to protect themselves or fight back. In fact it’s a bit of a one-sided war, rather more a premeditated annihilation I would suggest.
In reality the selection of predators that need to be killed is at the behest of the greatest predator of them all, humans, either because we just don’t like them, or they are introduced species and not native to our shores, or we have the mistaken belief that if we exterminate them our ecology will be rescued from certain peril. In general the reasons are unscientific and immoral, as are the weapons used against them.

Unbelievably the latest animal to be selected as a targeted predator will astound and horrify most people, but will delight rats, and Gareth Morgan. In an incredulous move the current Minister of Conservation, Eugene Sage, wants to see Kiwi wandering the urban gardens of Wellington, which would not exactly be their choice of where they would wish to reside given the human dangers associated with urban living and their lack of natural bush protection to which they are accustomed. The Minister noted that to achieve this urban dream cats would have to go, parroting the demands of the insidious ‘cats to go’ campaign, requiring ‘having cats inside, and when your cat dies then not replacing it’. So it’s cats or kiwis.

Local and Regional Councils throughout New Zealand, who have never before shown any interest in cats, are now wanting to illegally label them as ‘pest cats’ so they can be destroyed without question, again acceding to Morgan’s dictate that ‘any cat that is free to range should be a dead cat’.

That constitutes another declaration of war, and of course weapons of mass destruction exist, especially for cats. This one comes in the form of the unpronounceable para-aminopropiophenone, or PAPP as it is generally known, currently and unashamedly being trialled by the Hawke’s Bay Regional Council. PAPP is as hideous as 1080 coming in the form of a paste which, once ingested, starts a process of dying which is inhumane and painfully slow, with death averaging an horrendous 3 hours and 51 seconds to occur. During the process signs of toxicosis occur, (head nodding, lethargy, uncontrolled movement and lack of balance), eventually advancing to unresponsiveness and collapse but fully conscious and aware, with final unconsciousness occurring only moments before death.

The persecution of cats, the country’s most popular and adored companion animal, is as unfathomable as it is without foundation. Ecologist Gary J Patonec, (USA), commented: ‘What I find inconsistent in an otherwise scientific debate about biodiversity is how the indictment of cats has been pursued in spite of the evidence’.

I have to question, just what is the motivation that drives people to hate so vehemently that they are quite content in subjecting cats and other sentient beings to such extremes of torture before killing them? But remember we are, apparently, at war and the conservation soldiers are doing it to make the world a better place being totally oblivious to the probable ecological consequences of their extermination practices. The slaughter of one species on the pretext of saving another for the greater good in the name of conservation is reprehensible.
Predator Free-2050 claims to have an ‘army of tens of thousands of New Zealanders’, many of them recruited from children whose schools have received money and complimentary traps if they accede to the terms and conditions of war. Others are equally innocent urban families where the aim is to have ‘a trap in every fifth backyard across New Zealand’ which is creating a generation who, and I am quoting ‘find killing animals weirdly addictive’.

Such a trend is deeply disturbing and I wonder where, in contrast, is the public outrage? Because these trends are often introduced under stealth perhaps people are not aware of where this war is leading us, what weapons of mass destruction are being used, or what the consequences will be. And where are the mechanisms in place that will protect animals from such abuse, or are there none? Are we just going to sit back and watch New Zealanders fall into moral decay?

French ornithologist Jean Dorst conveys some sobering and relevant words of wisdom: ‘Whatever the metaphysical position is adopted and whatever place is given to the human species, man has no right to destroy a species of plant of animal on the pretext that it is useless. We have no right to exterminate what we have not created’.

I have no hesitation in adding my heartfelt support to that sentiment, as my dream for our country has always been that we respect and love all life, and that humans, animals and the environment can coexist in harmony, in addition to a belief that we can, if it is our will, realise that dream. Keep believing.

Bob Kerridge can be contacted on:
Email: bob.kerridge@gmail.com

He resides in Havelock North, Hawke’s Bay
Bob Kerridge has had a long and distinguished professional career in animal welfare, during which time he has been responsible for many creative and innovative initiatives that have enhanced the status and welfare of animals in the New Zealand community.

During his tenure of 32 years with the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, (SPCA), Bob Kerridge assumed many roles including Chief Executive, Executive Director and member of the Board. He was a National Councillor with the Royal NZ SPCA, eventually becoming its National President, and was also a Director of the World Society for the Protection of Animals, (WSPA). He was made a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit in 2004 and promoted to Officer of the Order for services to animal welfare and governance in the Queen’s Birthday honours in 2018.
He has recently established a Fellowship to seek positive and harmonious solutions for animals, humans and the environment.

SOURCE

Birds, DOC, News

Long-lived kea die after visit from DOC, who insisted on taking blood samples – long-term carers blame the department for their death (video)

August 11, 2018 Pam Vernon 2 Comments

This is a heart rending story. And one where surely insanity prevailed. Where did common sense go?

From stuff.co.nz

A Darfield family asked DOC not to take blood from their two 43-year-old kea, Casper and Stumpy. They did – and the birds were found dead less than 24 hours later.

A Darfield family blames the Department of Conservation (DOC) for the death of their beloved kea Casper and Stumpy.

The endangered alpine parrots have been part of Ron Stewart’s family since 1977 – but on Saturday morning he found them dead on the floor of their aviary.

Less than 24 hours earlier, a DOC ranger and veterinarian took blood samples from the birds despite Stewart pleading with them not to.

TINA LAW/STUFF

Kea Casper and Stumpy were found dead in their aviary on Saturday morning less than 24 hours after DOC staff took blood and examined the birds.

DOC staff, “shocked” by the birds’ “unintended and deeply concerning” deaths, returned to uplift them for a necropsy on Monday. They were ordered from the property.

The birds, thought to be about 43 years old, were given to Stewart and his late wife Dawn, an internationally renowned parrot breeder, by DOC’s predecessor, the Wildlife Service, in 1977.

Casper had a head injury and Stumpy’s leg had to be amputated. They were unlikely to survive in the wild.

https://www.stuff.co.nz/the-press/news/106049025/longlived-kea-die-after-visit-from-doc-longterm-carers-blame-the-department-for-their-death?cid=facebook.post.106049025

1080, DOC, News, Orillion, Poison

How the NZ Govt’s 1080 pesticide company re branded itself and why

August 9, 2018 Pam Vernon 11 Comments

Orillion is the new name for the Govt/corporation owned factory in Whanganui that manufactures 1080, the poison that is distributed liberally over our land in an endeavour to make us pest free. Per annum they drop 4,000 kg, enough to kill 20 million people. This is 22,000 times more than the rest of the world drops in fact it is banned in most countries. No wonder they wanted to re brand it. People are waking up to its toxicity. They’ve been dropping 1080 for 60 years now so it seems to not be working.

TWO SCIENTISTS WHO REVIEWED MORE THAN 100 OF DOC’S SCIENTIFIC PAPERS SAY: “THERE’S NO CREDIBLE SCIENTIFIC EVIDENCE SHOWING ANY SPECIES OF NATIVE BIRD BENEFITS FROM 1080 DROPS”

The new target is 2050 by which time we will supposedly be pest free. Supposedly. I suspect by 2050 we’ll be free of a lot more than pests.

WITH A LONG HISTORY OF POISONING KEA, DOC IS SET TO FINISH OFF WHAT REMAINS – DR JO POLLARD

WITH THE ANOMALIES NOTED IN KEA DEATHS, A SERIOUS UPGRADE IN MONITORING IS REQUIRED FOR US TO SEE THAT 1080 IS ACTUALLY DOING WHAT DOC SAYS IT DOES

Local protesters raise awareness at the Govt owned factory ‘Orillion’ situated in Heads Rd Whanganui (PHOTO: Victoria Mitchell)

NZ’S 1080 SUPPLY IS MADE RIGHT HERE IN YOUR OWN BACK YARD – FYI

The old name of this establishment was Animal Control Products. However in 2016 or thereabouts, they enlisted a Massey University owned company in Wellington called Open Lab to re brand it. This does appear to coincide very much with the intensified awareness of the public to the darker side of this poison.

“Animal Control Products NZ develops products to control and eradicate pests. They wanted to reposition their status from being a negatively slanted ‘producer of poisons’ to instead emphasising the great achievements that their products have lead to.

Open Lab was entrusted with re-naming the company and developing a new brand strategy that would be reflected through a revitalised brand story and a modernised design aesthetic.”

You can read about the new slant at the following link:

http://www.openlab.ac.nz/our-work/orillion/

This is in no way a negative slant on Open Lab. They are just working for their dollars. Any design company could have done the task and the point here of course is to highlight the deliberate tactic of prettying up the poisoning program under a plethora of new and colorful rhetoric and images which of course is not new.

“The elected name, Orillion, means ‘the defensive part of a city wall’, and conveys their role as a safeguard of native species, the environment and community. The logo is based on the whauwhaupaku, or fivefinger; a fast-growing plant used to help forests regenerate.”

Rebranding deadly poison with attractive & appealing brochures: Photo – openlab

It is a time worn tactic employed by governments since forever. The Crown is an expert at it. They re wrote our colonial histories in a similar fashion to make them more palatable for succeeding generations. It is hoped says the website info, that the new branding will increase export sales.

POSTSCRIPT: From a FB member:

Did you know Company Office records show the Rolleston Partnership with Pest Control Research NZ Ltd was formed in May 2013.

It has only two shareholders- Christchurch man Malcolm Thomas with 51 per cent, and the West Coast Regional Council with 49 per cent.

Did you know ………”In New Zealand, the poison is manufactured into pellets by Animal Control Products Ltd (ACP), a Crown-owned company, which manufactures more than 90 per cent of the pesticides formulations containing 1080 used in New Zealand.”……….

For important details on 1080 that are generally left out of the mainstream dialogue I suggest you visit our 1080 pages at the main menu. There is much evidence there and many links to independent research illustrating that this product kills more than the pests we are told are targeted. If you hike, tramp, hunt or fish, you should also visit the page, Suspected 1080 Poisoning Cases.

BANNED IN MOST COUNTRIES & CLASSIFIED BY WHO AS ‘HIGHLY HAZARDOUS’… 1080 IS A BROAD-SPECTRUM POISON THAT KILLS ALL OXYGEN-BREATHING ANIMALS AND ORGANISMS – DR MERIEL WATTS

Also, use ‘categories’ at the left of the page & search 1080. There are just too many references to include in this short article. Share the information with your loved ones. You should not for instance, be in or near a drop zone if pregnant.

Midwives warn of 1080 risk

More to come on that topic. Finally, watch out for your pets near any drop zone. Death by 1080 has been likened by a Veterinarian to two days of electrocution. Not a pretty sight and there is no antidote.

For those who are against the use of aerially dropped 1080 on our land (and waterways) there is a peaceful protest-hikoi making its way from the far North & the far South, to meet at Parliament on September 8th. Watch for its passage through your town/area & support their efforts in whatever way you can. Details can be found here.

For folk near Whanganui there is to be a peaceful protest there as well. Details below from Hikoi of a Poisoned Nation at Facebook.

Header photo: Tim Benseman

EnvirowatchRangitikei

DOC, Environment, News, Ospri

Two academics have hit out at the Government’s Predator Free 2050 goal, calling it “badly designed and unachievable”

July 22, 2018 Pam Vernon 1 Comment

From News Hub

They say the plan could lead to a decline in public support for conservation policy, because it’s an “impossible” target destined for “inevitable failure”.

Predator Free 2050 goal needs ‘reality check’ – Conservation Minister

The plan was announced by former Prime Minister John Key in 2016, and Conservation Minister Eugenie Sage has previously said it needed a “reality check”.

Victoria University School of Biological Sciences associate professor Wayne Linklater and ecologist Dr Jamie Steer said their research shows the plan is based on flawed assumptions.

Those assumptions are:

Predator extermination is the best way to protect biodiversity
The country needs to eradicate every stoat, rat and possum to protect biodiversity
A complete eradication of predators is possible

“None of these assumptions are true,” Mr Linklater said.

“Complete eradication of predators is technologically impossible, and biodiversity is affected more in some places by habitat decline and plant eaters than it is by predators.”

He said eliminating select predators from complex communities of plants, animals, and humans was likely to be harmful, causing populations of other introduced animals to erupt.

https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/politics/2018/07/nz-s-impossible-predator-free-2050-goal-blasted-by-academics.html

1080, DOC, Environment, News

School holidays still & Corner Peak Route in the Timaru 1080 drop zone is still littered with whole cinnamon flavoured baits!

July 21, 2018 Pam Vernon 7 Comments

So sad to see our beautiful country poisoned like this. And the apparent carelessness with which it is dropped and left for humans to touch. Little ones could easily run ahead, pick up those pretty looking baits & taste them before you even had time to stop them. Getting difficult isn’t it to be able to walk the wild places safely any more?
EnvirowatchRangitikei

From Carol Sawyer

“One third to to one half of a cinammon-flavoured 1080 bait, comprised of cereal and 25% sugar, and as you can see an attractive ‘lolly-green’ can KILL a preschooler. A nibble, or even a lick of a bait could make a child very ill.”

It’s the school holidays and this is the Corner Peak Route, in the Timaru Creek 1080 drop zone area… late this afternoon.

Ten tonnes 1080 baits were aerially dropped here on 20 June, 2018. We have had an enormous amount of rain since then and yet, nearly 4 weeks later, here are baits looking as intact as when they were dropped from the sky

One third to to one half of a cinammon-flavoured 1080 bait, comprised of cereal and 25% sugar, and as you can see an attractive ‘lolly-green’ can KILL a preschooler. A nibble, or even a lick of a bait could make a child very ill.

This photo of children with 1080 baits in the Timaru Creek aerial 1080 drop zone, on the Corner Peak Route, shocked many people when it was posted online yesterday. (The photo was taken late yesterday afternoon, 15 July, 2018)

So Kirstin Dana and I decided to go and have a look for ourselves this afternoon. We climbed the Upper Timaru Creek Track to the Corner Peak Route, which is the red dotted line on the map.

We didn’t have to go far on the Corner Peak Route before there seemed to be baits everywhere. One had been crushed by a boot…. I hope that person cleaned his footwear when he got home. I poked one bait open with a stick and as you can see it was still vivid green inside.

The photos of the 1080 baits I here are just two of 13 baits that I photographed on just one 75 metre stretch of the track’

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Bear in mind this is exactly 25 days since the drop. These 12 gram baits look as though they have just come out of the manufacturer’s bags ! You can see the ice on the track in the photo below.

A lot of 1080 must have been eaten though, as in two hours of walking we heard ONE bird… a Grey warbler on the other side of the valley. Apart from that, not a sound.

We came across sheep, including a dead one, and three donkeys, at the junction of the Upper Timaru Creek Track and the Corner Peak Route. They appeared to be in the drop zone – the closest baits we found on the track were approximately 100 metres up the hill from them.

It’s not really good enough this sort of thing, is it?

These baits are 0.15% pure 1080 poison and for anyone who doesn’t believe my calculations and wants to work it out for themselves… the LD50 of pure 1080 (sodium monofluoroacetate) is 0.7 to 2 mgs per kg of bodyweight, according to the govt-owned 1080 bait manufacturer, Animal Control Products, in Whanganui . The baits at Timaru Creek are standard 12 gm baits.

The average weight of a two-year old is between 12 kgs ( girl ) and 12.7 kgs ( boy ). One third to one half of a bait can kill a two-year-old ( boy or girl ).
A 3-year-old ( average weight 14 kgs ) could be killed by just over 1/2 bait ( 9.8mgs ).

And remember, this is NOT an exact science… they haven’t exactly experimented to come up with those figures. Nor are they likely to have exaggerated!

Corruption, DOC, Environment, News, NZ Government

With certain species on brink of extinction, two top scientists are lifting the lid on DoC’s “toxic” culture of corporate ideals – “the department has lost its way” says one

July 14, 2018 Pam Vernon Leave a comment

Are we surprised? I don’t think so. About time isn’t it? Reflect now on the use of 1080 all over our environment including the waterways, with impunity. Do you still feel safe under their watch? EnvirowatchRangitikei

“Committed conservation workers, even if they’re highly regarded, are being pushed out, Head says, because they don’t fit the mould of the department’s new corporate ideals…”

“The desire to listen to in-house expertise is gone. It’s much more important that we write plans and waste thousands and thousands of dollars on consultants developing so-called interface plans and task assignments than actually doing the job.”

From newsroom.co.nz

DoC’s Culture Wars Revealed

Two top scientists are lifting the lid on the Department of Conservation’s “toxic” culture. David Williams reports.

A culture war is being waged within the Department of Conservation, says a former DOC ecologist who claims he’s been hounded out of the job.

Nick Head, the 2013 winner of the prestigious Loder Cup for conservation, quit the department last month and is taking a personal grievance claim. He says there’s a corporate culture in DOC being driven by management, that seems unable to face the inconvenient truth that its core function is to advocate for conservation. Some bosses seem unwilling to fight to protect special, rare and threatened places in case it upsets “relationships”, he says. That’s causing friction with some scientific, technical and frontline staff.

“There’s a culture war and there’s a lot of discontent.”

Head’s view, which he believes is widely shared within the department, is that DOC became highly politicised because it was seen as an impediment to the previous Government’s economic growth agenda. Some DOC staff became afraid to speak out or take a strong line.

“…the country’s rare flora and fauna are on the brink of a raft of extinctions, much of it down to DOC’s ineptitude…”

Committed conservation workers, even if they’re highly regarded, are being pushed out, Head says, because they don’t fit the mould of the department’s new corporate ideals. “They make life so difficult for them, they either leave or they find reasons to force them out.”Another Loder Cup winner, botanist Peter de Lange, left the department, disillusioned, in August last year, after being diagnosed with chronic stress. He thinks the department has lost its way, and that the country’s rare flora and fauna are on the brink of a raft of extinctions, much of it down to DOC’s ineptitude. He should know – De Lange was instrumental in developing the country’s threat classification system used since 2001.

“… the department has lost its way…”
Loder Cup winner, botanist Peter de Lange

https://www.newsroom.co.nz/2018/07/12/151517/docs-culture-wars-revealed

1080, Birds, DOC, Environment, Native Birds in decline, News, Poison, Pollution

Go into a 1080-poisoned forest, see for yourself says a NZ bushman of 35 years – non target birds are dying

July 8, 2018 Pam Vernon 3 Comments

NOTE: This is a burning issue in NZ currently, a nation advertised as clean and green is anything but. They are poisoning our environment with greater intensity under the guise of saving birds. Folk visiting here should be warned & not drink water from the streams as many tourists do. One tourist here died & her Doctor who arranged to send her heart for testing for 1080 was told to back off & the lab ‘lost’ her heart. Massive cover up going on. https://envirowatchrangitikei.wordpress.com/2016/10/06/could-this-healthy-23-year-old-have-died-from-exposure-to-1080-we-will-never-know-because-incredibly-the-nz-lab-lost-her-heart/
EnvirowatchRangitikei

From the Gisborne Herald

LETTER TO THE EDITOR

With regard to Grant Vincent’s comments on the benefits of 1080 poison. As a logging contractor and bushman for the past 35 years, I have seen my fair share of 1080 poison drops. Every year parts of the forest estate where I worked were systematically poisoned every three years.

In my experience this creates very low bird numbers, especially predatory birds like the falcon, morepork, weka and hawk. All these birds I have found poisoned after a 1080 poison drop.

1080 poison was first developed as an insecticide, so what effect does this have on the forest ecosystem as a whole? And then there’s the effect on poisoning our waterways which run down to our coastline.

New Zealand’s Department of Conservation, TBfree and many regional councils backed by Forest and Bird support the aerial use of 1080 poison which indiscriminately kills all creatures that breathe oxygen through a slow, painful death that can take some animals days.

Then there is the crusade to have New Zealand pest-free by 2050, which includes deer and pigs. If you hunt wild game to feed your family, as most of my workers do, be concerned as this will affect you!

As I have always said to people who ask me about the effects of 1080 poison — go into a forest which has been poisoned by 1080 and see for yourself. Listen if you can hear any birds, and you will notice the smell of death.

Mark Nyhoff

Pakiri Logging

READ COMMENTS ETC AT THE LINK

http://gisborneherald.co.nz/opinion/3124914-135/go-into-a-1080-poisoned-forest-see

For further independent science & info on 1080 see our 1080 pages at the main menu. You won’t find that info in mainstream media. Also search 1080 in categories at left of news page.

1080, Corruption, DOC, News, Poison, Surveillance

DoC spent $100,000 on Thompson & Clark PI ‘protection’

June 23, 2018 Pam Vernon 2 Comments

Some of us recall a time when government departments didn’t need ‘protecting’, but then our government and its departments are now corporations. Corporations are ‘needing’ protection from the people who have found them out to be not what we all thought.

From newshub.co.nz

The Department of Conservation (DoC) has admitted spending more than $100,000 of taxpayer money on controversial private investigators Thompson & Clark.

Opponents of the 1080 poison have forced DoC to admit it uses the private investigators to monitor their social media, costing $103,187.

However, DoC has since denied ordering them to spy.

“The Department of Conservation has not contracted Thompson and Clark Limited or any other investigator to undertake surveillance,” it told Newshub.

https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/politics/2018/06/doc-spent-100-000-on-thompson-clark-protection.html

1080, Corporations, DOC, News, NZ Government, Poison, Surveillance

DOC withholds information after demands from Thompson and Clark

June 23, 2018 Pam Vernon Leave a comment

The Department of Conservation (DOC) withheld official information after demands from security firm Thompson and Clark, internal emails show.

Thompson and Clark spied on anti-1080 activists for DOC, sharing intelligence through what it called its “Fusion Centre” – locked, hidden chat channels on messaging app Slack.

The work cost nearly $4000 a month – several government departments are signed up to similar packages – and also included a weekly phone briefing involving senior staff from both organisations.

https://www.radionz.co.nz/national/programmes/checkpoint/audio/2018648974/doc-withholds-information-after-demands-from-thompson-and-clark

1080, DOC, Mana Whenua, News, Poison, tangata whenua

Another 1080 PROTEST: 2 groups, 600 strong are demanding Ministerial intervention to stop DoC’s 1080 drop on Rakitu Island (22 June)

June 21, 2018 Pam Vernon 4 Comments

Kelly Klink wrote on
June 20 at 12:38am

1. We delivered documents to the Aotea conservation park advisory committee demanding Ministerial intervention to stop the aerial poisoning drop on Rakitu Island.
2. The Ngāti wai mana whenua collective & the Aotea poison free group are 600 people strong and building. There is an online petition to sign on’Barrier Chitchat”.
3. We are protesting and camping at the Doc station at Okiwi to voice our stand. We will not be moving and we are demanding immediate Ministerial intervention from the following ministers.
4. Eugenie sage (minister of conservation) Marama Davidson (green party co-leader) Nanaia mahuta (minister of Maori development) Shane Jones (minister of regional development & bio-security Kelvin Davis (minister of Maori & crown relations)
5. There are 4 breaches in the following acts that need to be addressed:
Conservation act section2 part4.
Marine & coastal (takutaimoana) area act 2011.
Resource management act.
Te tiriti o Waitangi Article 2.
Note: the aerial poisoning drop on Rakitu Island begins in 3 days 22/5/2018.
We are all in agreement to protest and camp on the Doc station until the ministers come to Aotea to engage with us.
Until that happens we are not moving.

Society for the Protection of Aotea Community and Ecology -Aotea Poison Free and Mana Whenua setting up camp outside DOC offices until the Ministers agree to travel to the Island and meet with our communities and agree to stop the Rakitu Drop . This is day two..Peter Hoey explains

CAN YOU HELP?
Gather up warm socks, beanies and thermals:
and $ to send stickers and HIKOI tees:
so they can ‘BE PART OF THE HIKOI’
at the same time . . . :}
Or send direct to Kelly C/- Port Fitzroy Store
Great Barrier Island.

1080, DOC, Environment, News, Poison, Treaty of Waitangi

Resistance to using 1080 grows in Far North: DoC has misled the public on operations costs, consultation & perceived support

June 21, 2018 Pam Vernon Leave a comment

The Department of Conservation’s plan for a 1080 aerial drop in public and private forests in the Far North later this year is meeting growing resistance.

Critics say use of the poison over more than 60 years has had devastating effects on wildlife, killing indiscriminately, inflicting an “extremely cruel and inhumane death” that often takes days. Locals for Responsible Conservation also argue that it poisons water, including sources used by people.

“Poisoned animals are left to rot in the forest and waterways, and remain toxic for many, many months,” a spokesman said.

“Dropping deadly poison over our environment is not an acceptable practice, and it is not sustainable.

“There are many alternatives that contribute positively to our communities and our employment opportunities that do not risk our health and our environment.

“We support sustainable, responsible conservation that benefits local communities and respects our environment, including all creatures great and small.”

Meanwhile a reply to an Official Information Act request from Locals for Responsible Conservation, received in March, raised more questions, glossed over the risks and showed that DOC had misled the public about the cost of the operations and local support for the drop, the group said.

A number of the groups listed as having been consulted said they had not been, while others had wrongly been cited as supportive.

http://www2.nzherald.co.nz/the-country/news/article.cfm?c_id=16&objectid=12073542

1080, DOC, News, Poison

DoC sows 1080 bait on snow in spite of their Code of Practice saying not to

June 10, 2018 Pam Vernon 1 Comment

THE TIMARU CREEK, LAKE HAWEA, 1080 DROP ZONE IS COVERED IN SNOW!

Thanks to Carol Sawyer, Clyde Graf and Ron Eddy for this information:

The 1080 poison is due to be aerially dropped within the next couple of weeks. Prefeed baits were dropped on May 28, 2018.

Here is why 1080 baits should not be dropped in snowy, wintry conditions. According to the information below, DoC’s 2014 Code of Practice suggests : “Avoid sowing toxic baits on snow. With regard to rocky outcrops, these should be evaluated along with other timing and boundary decisions in operational planning. Seek advice from technical and science advisors for your situation”.

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I received this email from Ron Eddy in March, 2017, re dropping 1080 in SNOW!:

“Now to 1080 in snow. …… at a meeting in St Arnaud where Josh Kemp, DoC’s Kea scientist was present Kemp answered my comment about dropping 1080 in snow. He replied “We never drop in snow.” I then pulled those photos out and silence reigned from the DoC side of the discussion. I think there was a drastic reduction in Nelson Lakes Kea after that 2008 drop because that was when they brought in the 2009 code of practice for 1080 operations in Kea habitat. That also brought in DoC’s Kea monitoring as the first operation shown on that chart is the 2008 Arawhata one. No mention of the Red Hills / Beeby’s / St Arnaud N Face or Upper Wairau ones though. In a reply to someone on the ‘net Kemp denied the Nelson Lakes NP area had had 1080 dropped on it at that time.
……..

About a week after the Upper Wairau operation into snow I went through an area of it and found 1080 baits that hadn’t been touched … they had blown up like sausages. 1080 lasts a lot longer in cold conditions, the cold keeps it viable and to me, those baits were still viable because the hard centres in them were still solid. They went ahead with that drop knowing we were in for a large drop of snow and to my mind they were wanting to get every possum they could even though they knew there were very few possums there . Their monitoring told them so.

To have a deep blanket of snow also took away the food sources of our native birds. For them to see bright green coloured cereal baits on top of the snow would have been an open invitation to have free feed. Especially the Kea. That no doubt is also the reason DoC now diversionary feed Kea during 1080 drops in the Nelson Lakes NP area. That still didn’t stop one Kea that we know of from dying from 1080 poisoning in the 2014 operation.

In DoC’s revised 2014 “DOC code of practice for aerial 1080 operations in Kea habitat” on page 12 is a series of questions and answers in regard to aerial 1080 operations. Question 3 reads, ” We are planning to sow 0.15% 1080 Pellets in some open alpine areas to protect Rock Wren. What is the best timing to achieve this, considering that there could be snow for some of the year? Should rocky areas above the tussock be excluded?”

The answer is “Avoid sowing toxic baits on snow. With regard to rocky outcrops, these should be evaluated along with other timing and boundary decisions in operational planning. Seek advice from technical and science advisors for your situation.”

Apart from the directive in that answer I think the rest of the above info should give you a pretty good idea why 1080 baits shouldn’t be dropped on snow. Considering Rock Wren live in rock outcrops it appears their lack of knowledge on this subject contributed towards the demise of those 25 Kahurangi NP Rock Wren in 2014….. ” Ron Eddy, St Arnaud

*******************************************************************

Clyde Graf said : “DoC dropped 1080 poison directly into snow in the Rainbow Skyfield area, St Arnaud – Nelson Lakes, back in 2008 I think it was. We filmed a bunch of poisoned birds laying on the snow, along with the baits. The poison is well preserved in snow, but these poisoning agencies are only about getting the poison dumped into the environment, not about what happens to it or where it ends up.” See photo above.

Photos :

1) Timaru Creek, Lake Hawea ( the last two mountains on the left are Corner Peak and Dingle Peak – then Timaru Creek comes out into Lake Hawea- then Breast Peak is basically that whole large range on the right ) – Photo Kirstin Dana 5 June, 2018

2 ) (Header) Dead birds found in snow beside 1080 baits, St Arnaud – Photo Clyde Graf, 2008

3 ) OSPRI 1080 aerial drop zone, Timaru Creek

1080, DOC, News, Ospri, Poison, tb

Correspondence from OSPRI on their deliberate release of TB infected possums

May 27, 2018 Pam Vernon 6 Comments

OSPRI RESPONSE TO RECENT QUESTIONING RE CLARENCE RESERVE, MARLBOROUGH, IN RELATION TO AERIAL 1080 POISONING

Carol Sawyer writes: “This correspondence was sent to me by a Facebook friend last night and I felt it was worth posting in its entirety. It includes, for example, such questions as whether any rat and/or possum population assessment was carried out on the Clarence Reserve – either before or after the Oct 2016 aerial 1080 poison drop.

Nick Hancox, OSPRI Policy Advisor, is clearly rattled by reference to their release of deliberately Tb-infected possums.
He says below (6 July, 2017) “In closing I ask you to note that the deliberate release of TB-infected possums (for research purposes) was into a small area of the Orongorongo Valley, where TB in possums was already chronic and at high prevalence. The experimental release was immaterial in regard to disease risk and prevalence in the area. Unfortunately this matter has been the subject of a number of ill-founded and frankly mischievous pubic statements and claims.”

He appears to be denying the same thing was done at Muzzle Station in the Clarence Reserve. Well it was!

So I have also included earlier correspondence I had myself with OSPRI (April 2016) re deliberately infected possums released on Muzzle Station. Muzzle Station leases about 8,000 ha of the Clarence Reserve.”

***************************************************

RE DELIBERATELY INFECTING POSSUMS WITH TB (Carol’s correspondence referred to above)

I had a phone conversation in April, 2016, with Phillip Dawson, Operations Extension Officer for OSPRI NZ Ltd in Hamilton and he sent me this email

“Hello,

Links below might help to explain the release of TB infected animals for research, as we discussed over the phone.

Release of tb possum in Orongorongo valley https://www.tbfree.org.nz/research-work-vital-to-achieving-…

Muzzle station research https://www.landcareresearch.co.nz/…/how-does-chronic-tb-af…

Not sure of how many more of these might have been done but all would have been under a controlled conditions where TB animals can be traced and removed and where TB is already in wildlife in the area.

Regards, Phil”

I asked Phil if he thought they would kill all the remaining possums with the 1080 drop and he said they would kill 90% of the possums and eventually do two more drops and get the rest!

**********************************************************
RECENT CORRESPONDENCE WITH OSPRI :

Information request to TBfree

Sent: Monday, 3 April 2017 6:03:33 p.m.
Subject: TBfree Contact Us Form

Ka Whata Tu o Rakihouia Conservation Park, including the hunting area known as Clarence Reserve, near Kaikoura, South Island was subjected to aerial 1080 poisoning on the 16 Oct 2016 as part of the agency TB Free’s ‘pesticide control’.
An OIA response from TBFree informed me that the rationale for the operation was because 10 pigs over 2 years were found with TB and that there had been ‘an assumption’ (scientific knowledge unknown) that possum were therefore carrying it too.
Recent OIA results from DoC’s aerial 1080 poison drop at Makarora Valley, South Island revealed that no possum count had been undertaken at all and that rat population assessments revealed very low levels of rats.

With this in mind, I am interested to know the following:
Whether any rat and/or possum population assessment was carried out at Ka Whata Tu o Rakihouia Conservation Park – either before or after the Oct 2016 aerial 1080 poison drop. Please provide detailed methodology and results of these assessments (if they exist).
I understand that there is a current proposal for a further 44,000 hectares adjacent to the Ka Whata Tu o Rakihouia Conservation Park to be aerial 1080 poisoned later in 2017 – The Clarence River reserve. Can you explain why this proposal does not currently appear on DoC Pesticide Summary Interactive map? Can you clarify where such information might be readily available to the public and tourists translations if required?
Finally, can you please provide full details of the rationale for this proposed 1080 poison operation at Clarence Reserve and whether this is at all connected to the 10 wild pigs contained in the previous rationale? Again, I need measurement and assessment (methodology, results) of rats and possum populations within this specific area within the last 5 years (if this exists).

For the purposes of this OIA I confirm I am an NZ resident.

*****************************************************************************

On 4/05/2017, at 11:10, Nick Hancox ( Nick.Hancox@tbfree.org.nz ) wrote:

Dear ………….

I reply to your emailed information request of 3 April 2017 (copied below) as follows:

TBfree NZ completed aerial 1080 baiting for possum control over part of Ka Whata Tu o Rakihouia Conservation Park on 16 October 2016, as part of our Kowhai Swyncombe operation.

Prior to that operation, possum density within the target area had been estimated (in 2014) using Bite Mark Index methodology. This returned a mean Bite Mark Index (BMI) of 12%. Details of the methodology are available at http://www.npca.org.nz/…/a1_possum%20monitoring_2015-nov_lr….

Post-operational monitoring of possum density has not been carried out for the Kowhai-Swyncombe operation. It is our normal practice to monitor possum densities no earlier than 2-3 years after aerial control operations. This later monitoring is more useful, in that it provides an indication of any population recovery and thus allows us to begin the process of monitoring the need for further control work.

Information provided to you on 13 March 2017 (as attached) on findings of TB infected pigs was in relation to TBfree’s planned 2017 Clarence Reserve operation. This operation was originally planned to commence from 1 July 2017. However we are currently negotiating timing of the operation with affected landowners, which is likely to result in a later start date for this operation, possibly in November.

We have no possum monitoring results from the Clarence Reserve operational area. Possum numbers are assumed to be high enough to warrant control, because of the lack of previous possum control in the area. As previously advised to you, the history of TB in both livestock and wild pigs from the area is strongly indicative of TB infection in possums.

We do not monitor rat populations associated with TB possum control operations unless this is specifically required by the Department of Conservation.

DOC Pesticide Summary information for the Clarence Reserve Operation will appear after DOC has been formally notified of a detailed operational plan. This requires consent and boundary agreements to be finalised with affected and neighbouring landowners. Negotiations towards this are still in progress, so the Pesticide Summary may not appear for another month or more. Formal prior notification of the operation – as required under the Hazardous Substances and New Organisms Act – involves a number of steps, including:

· Written notification and visits to all land occupiers within and adjacent to the control area

· Written notice to known likely users of the area, such as hunting and outdoors groups and clubs, concession holders and guides

· A public meeting in Kaikoura which will be advertised

· Notices in local newspapers

· Signposting at all likely access points

Attached for your information is a factsheet for the Clarence Reserve Operation, which will be distributed as part of the above notification. The factsheet for last year’s Kowhai-Swyncombe operation is also attached.

Yours sincerely

Nick Hancox

NICK HANCOX

SENIOR OPERATIONAL POLICY ADVISOR

OSPRI New Zealand Limited

**********************************************************

Hello again Nick.

Can you please inform me as to why the Clarence River area cattle herd apparently historically displaying bTb has not been culled? Whilst travelling in this area last month, it was obvious that cattle were being walked down public highways through traffic and other contamination risks.

It seems blatantly obvious to me that with no possum assessment or monitoring done and no changes to the way cattle are transported through the area, and no culling of infected herds, that the situation will remain the same.

This cycle of aerial poisoning without scientific rationale – especially when elsewhere possum are being deliberately infected with Tb and released into the environment – is unsustainable and the Directors of Ospri & Doc will now become accountable.

Your response?

*************************************************************

From: Nick Hancox <Nick.Hancox@tbfree.org.nz>
Date: Thu, 6 Jul 2017 at 13:59

Dear……

Without knowing exactly which cattle were being moved where, it is difficult for me to comment. However when cattle are driven along roads, this is usually to move them from one paddock to another within their home farm. This in itself would not create risk of infection spreading to other cattle herds, and in the Clarence Reserve locality, wildlife TB will be also be present, so local droving of cattle along roads would not create any additional disease transmission risks. There are strict controls on movement of cattle from infected herds to live sale or to other herds, and in most cases movement direct to slaughter is the only realistic option. Transmission of TB from cattle to humans (other than by drinking unpastuerised milk from a cow with advanced tuberculous mastitis, or through close and confined contact such as in a milking shed) is extremely unlikely.

TB-infected herds are subject to regular TB tests and all test-positive animals are culled. This usually sufficient to eradicate TB from herds after a few whole-herd tests, unless the herd is exposed to re-infection from wildlife. In the latter case a regular test and slaughter regime can at least keep infection within the herd down to a level where continuing to maintain the herd is feasible and economic.

Whole herd slaughter is an option in some cases but it makes little sense where re-infection from wildlife is likely, as any replacement herd would soon become infected as well.

You can find details of herd testing and movement control policies in our National Operational Plan at http://www.tbfree.org.nz/national-operational-plan.aspx

In closing I ask you to note that the deliberate release of TB-infected possums (for research purposes) was into a small area of the Orongorongo Valley, where TB in possums was already chronic and at high prevalence. The experimental release was immaterial in regard to disease risk and prevalence in the area. Unfortunately this matter has been the subject of a number of ill-founded and frankly mischievous pubic statements and claims.

Yours sincerely

Nick

NICK HANCOX

SENIOR POLICY ADVISOR

OSPRI New Zealand Limited

**************************************************************

Mustering on Muzzle Station - Musters oldest team member, Rick Denton - Photo RadioNZ

Photos

1 ) (Header) Possum being deliberately injected with Tb before release into wild – Landcare Research photo
2 ) Mustering on Muzzle Station – Musters oldest team member, Rick Denton – Photo RadioNZ
3) Hereford cattle crossing the Clarence River on Muzzle Station – Photo “Stuff”

SOURCE

1080, DOC, News, Poison, Putaruru poisoning

Poison just lying around in the bush alarms overseas visitor – in same area the pig that poisoned the Putararu family came from

May 26, 2018 Pam Vernon 4 Comments

Thanks to Carol Sawyer & Australian visitor, Mark Slater for this compilation of facts about the apparent carelessness around the spread, storage & care of poison in our bush by NZ’s Department of Conservation. This article is about Pindone being left lying around, however the before & after storage & care of 1080 pellets after drops has also frequently been called into question by visitors, by locals who observe while hunting, tramping, trapping and so forth and by folk whose pets have been poisoned inadvertently. Watch carefully if you are tramping, hunting or just enjoying the scenery in NZ. What I find most disturbing is the number of comments I’m seeing on forums and feedback from tourists is that they don’t see many birds, just as Mark has commented here in this article. See our pages on suspected poisonings from such at the 1080 pages (main menu). (For other 1080 articles use the search box or ‘categories’ – left of news page). And if you have incidents where you’ve noticed this poison lying around, a lack of signage to warn the public, or if you’ve had your own farm animals or pets poisoned, record it and send it to me if you’d like it published. EnvirowatchRangitikei

“It should be pointed out that this is the area where the pig that poisoned the Putaruru family last year came from (see map). That was not Pindone poisoning, but almost certainly 1080 poisoning, but it shows how dangerous this Pureora Forest Park and our other wild places have become.”

Australian, Mark Slater, was in NZ last month hunting. He went on a hunting trip in Pureora Forest Park, with his son and three of his son’s Kiwi mates.

(Pureora Forest Park is in the North Island and straddles the Hauhungaroa and Rangitoto ranges west of Lake Taupo and east of Te Kuiti.)

I spoke to Mark today. He told me they were given permission to enter the Park through a farmer’s property and tramped for four and a half days, from one side to the other, where a vehicle was waiting to pick them up. They followed tracks with pink, yellow and green markers – see photo. All the tracks had names ( like Grassy Track, etc ).

Mark said ” The forest didn’t seem alive at all. I was last here three years ago and there were heaps of wood pigeons (Kereru) but this time I only saw two. We only saw 6 deer in four days.”

On Day 3 they came across two drums of Pindone Poison. They are 44 gallon drums (205 litres) and looked as though they had obviously been there for some time. One was standing up but the bottom was rusting out so it was leaking, and the one pictured, also rusting with the lid open, was lying on its side. The Pindone was in white hessian-look plastic but the bag was full of water. The poison was all wet and soggy. Mark said if the water is getting in, then there must be a hole in the bags, so it will be leaking out onto the ground.

He was quite shocked but he said the Kiwis were reasonably blasé about it. (We have become so used to the irresponsible behaviour of our Dept of Conservation !)

Mark says “I was more shocked that I was drinking the water downstream ! I thought hunters should know.”

****************************************************

Since I posted this, Roy Hollister has provided the attached photo ( taken 13/10/ 2016 ) of abandoned bait stations in Pureora Forest Park. I asked if any poison was still in them but he says there was no sign of poison residue in any of the traps – how slack, though, to leave piles like that lying around in the bush !
Roy says “I’d say looking at the leaf litter on top of them they had been there 5 or more years. They are next to the Kitemairangi Road which takes you up to the Kitemairangi loop track in Piropiro flats, South Pureora Forest Park. We witnessed the 1080 drop there a few years back The decline in bird life and morning chorus was outstanding. We were in the forest 3 months after the drop and still found baits on the ground.”
Roy adds ” The abandoned bait stations were still there as of April 11, 2018 “.

*******************************************************

It should be pointed out that this is the area where the pig that poisoned the Putaruru family last year came from ( see map ). That was not Pindone poisoning, but almost certainly 1080 poisoning, but it shows how dangerous this Pureora Forest Park and our other wild places have become.

Photos (not in the documented order):

1 )DoC Pindone drum leaking into Pureora Forest Park – Photo Mark Slater
2 ) Pink marker in Pureora Forest Park – Photo Mark Slater
3 ) Map of Pureora Forest Park – Screenshot provided by Moo Scotting
4 ) Pile of bait stations left abandoned – Pureora Forest Park – Photo Roy Hollister, 13 October 2016 – the bait stations were still there as of April 11, 2018.
5 ) Bait still intact on ground three months after aerial 1080 poison drop, Pureora Forest Park – Photo Roy Hollister, 13 October, 2016
6 ) Deer carcass, Pureora Forest Park – Photo Roy Hollister, 13 October, 2016 ( Roy says ” We found lots of deer like this.)

SOURCE

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RELATED – A 1080 POISON DROP IN PUREORA FOREST PARK – VIDEO BY THE GRAFBOYS:

1080, DOC, Nature Conservancy group, News

DoC says the 30 international bankers touring Fiordland last month were about recovering our kākāpō and takahē yet still no mention in mainstream media?

May 14, 2018 Pam Vernon 5 Comments

Thanks to one of our readers Joseph Nowak who has forwarded the following information he obtained from DoC with an Official Information request. DoC’s responding letter explains the purpose of the recent helicopter tour over Fiordland by 30 international bankers, escorted by the heads of both DoC and Hong Kong’s Goldman Sachs. For previous information surrounding this info request in particular the Nature Conservancy group (NC) see the three following articles, particularly the first & second if you are in a hurry (although they are not long reads):

1) WHY WERE THE HEADS OF NZ’S DEPT. OF CONSERVATION & HONG KONG’S GOLDMAN SACHS TOURING PARTS OF FIORDLAND RECENTLY IN A SIX-HELICOPTER ENTOURAGE?

2) NEW INFO ON THE RECENT 6-HELICOPTER ENTOURAGE OVER FIORDLAND BY THE HEAD OF NZ’S DEPT. OF CONSERVATION & 30 ODD INTERNATIONAL BANKERS

3) SOUTHLAND DISTRICT COUNCIL HAS TOLD A CORRESPONDENT THAT THE RECENT HELICOPTER TOUR OF FIORDLAND BY 30 ODD INTERNATIONAL BANKERS & DOC WAS ‘PHILANTHROPIC’ … AND NARY A WHISPER FROM MAINSTREAM MEDIA?

4) DOC SAYS THE 30 INTERNATIONAL BANKERS TOURING FIORDLAND LAST MONTH WERE ABOUT RECOVERING OUR KĀKĀPŌ AND TAKAHĒ YET STILL NO MENTION IN MAINSTREAM MEDIA?

DoC’s Response:

DocCM-5467259
18-E-0172

11 May 2018

Mr Joseph Nowak

Dear Mr Nowak

Thank you for your email of 4 April 2018 to the Minister of Conservation requesting the
following information under the Official Information Act 1982 (the Act):

“the purpose of the recent helicopter tour of Fiordland by international
bankers which was hosted by Lou Sanson”

Your request was transferred from the Minister’s Office to the Department of Conservation on 24 April 2018.

In response to your request I am able to advise that the purpose of the charter flights on 14 March 2018 was to show The Nature Conservancy’s Asia Pacific Council conservation work that is underway in Fiordland, specifically work to recover kākāpō and takahē.
The Nature Conservancy (TNC) is a charitable environmental organisation, pursuing
solutions to conservation challenges, and working with partners including indigenous communities, businesses, governments, multilateral institutions, and other non-profits.
TNC are significant donors to conservation around the world and across the Asia Pacific region and covered the costs of this helicopter charter. You can read more about TNC on their website: http://www.nature.org

Yours sincerely
Martin Rodd
Director Partnerships

COMMENT:

This all begs the question, why did mainstream media mention nothing about this tour? Surely, given NZers’ passion for our once pristine country & its flora and fauna, the media would be all over this? But no, not a whisper. Not a whisper either about the supposed ‘philanthropic’ nature of the tour. Personally I’d be putting my money on the greenwash agenda. Remember the reader feedback here about NC activities in Hawaii?

“…you are right about the Nature Conservancy. They bought up a large swathe of land on my former home, the island of Molokai, Hawaii. I knew a local gal there, young and strong, who quit working for them. Why? First, they fenced off the land. Then they brought in sharp shooters from airplanes to “eliminate” the”non-native species” — goats and pigs.

I overheard waterway workers complain that the dead carcasses were rotting right in the aqueduct that goes through tunnels from that side of the island to the population on the other side — as drinking and ag water. Then they sought to eliminate the “non-native” flora. That’s why she quit. They had her spraying toxic herbicides all day long, and she was afraid of becoming sterile! Also, when they purchase a piece of land, they rope it off for “conservation” and people are not allowed to go there and enjoy the beauty any more.”

We are supposed to believe that these international bankers are committed to saving our kākāpō and takahē? When they make clandestine tours of our country like they own it? Bit like the public-excluded carry on we have with our district councils that are selling off our public assets hand over fist (in secret).

We are hearing repeatedly from hunters and those who live near the bush areas that after poison drops the birdsong all but disappears. I don’t imagine the bankers plan on stopping the poison drops?

The green ‘sustainable’ rhetoric is just not cutting it any more, not three decades in sorry. The only things I see that are being sustained are the coffers of the wealthy. At the expense of our environment.

EnvirowatchRangitikei

Corruption, DOC, News, NZ Government, Surveillance

Dept of Conservation Prying Spying Gets Caned

April 28, 2018 Pam Vernon 1 Comment

If you think this behaviour is new you need to read ‘Secrets and Lies: The anatomy of an anti-environmental PR campaign’ by Nicky Hager & Bob Burton. That was written in 1999, some 19 odd years ago. Like our clean green image, democracy is sheer illusion. EnvirowatchRangitikei

“The surveillance firm Thompson and Clark uses secret chat channels to communicate with government departments, and share information about members of the public it’s monitoring for those departments.”

From scoop.co.nz

The Department of Conservation has been spying on the anti-1080 poison public using controversial security firm Thompson and Clark, National Radio’s “Checkpoint” recently reported.

The news brought strong reaction from the anti-1080 public. Andi Cockroft, co-chairman Council of Outdoor Recreation Associations of NZ (CORANZ) said the spying showed the deceit and deception which bureaucrats would stoop to.

“This clearly demonstrates the levels to which the public’s government agencies will stoop to while pushing their abhorrent poisoning programme,” he said.

Laurie Collins spokesman for the Sporting Hunters Outdoor Trust (SHOT) described the spying as “bizarre and dangerous.”

New Zealand was a democracy not a dictatorship run by bureaucrats he said.

“DoC seem to be in total denial of democracy and that they’re public servants supposedly accountable to the public. They are actually spying on their employers – a sizeable chunk of the people who pay DOC’s bills and salaries. It’s melodramatic nonsense. It smacks of a propaganda war with introduced animal paranoia driving it.”

http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PO1804/S00261/doc-prying-spying-gets-caned.htm

Environmental Health Watch NZ

Category Archives: DOC

Some truth on the alleged threats to DoC staff: an OIA request to Police reveals 9 in the last 31 months, DoC says 93 last month

OIA reveals false claims from DoC

The answer, back then, was six:

THREE.

“Twenty years of 1080 in the Haast Valley has killed our kea population”

A 1080 poison drop in the Manawatu Gorge is imminent

DoC admits their 1080 rat control operation only lasts 3-6 months … ANNUAL poisoning now for Heaphy Vlly & Coast

Department of Conservation Independent Poisoned Cow Investigation – nothing “independent” about it (GrafBoys)

A NZ Landcare scientist estimates the likely death toll from an Otago 1080 drop in 2002 to be around 10,000 birds

* About the late William (Bill) Benfield:

The NZ Govt is teaching your child that Class 1A ecotoxin 1080, banned by most countries, is ‘not very dangerous to humans’

Who is really driving Pest Free NZ (PFNZ) – what you aren’t being told

The very Govt organization that issues consents for 1080 drops is to conduct the ‘independent’ review of DoC’s recent aerial operation that killed 8 cows

With an estimated 158 stock deaths pa in NZ, DoC’s proposed independent review of the Waikato 1080 drop that killed 8 cows is rare indeed

Fight against 1080 goes to Te Taitokerau Māori Land Court

1080 propaganda exposed by Alan Gurden & Emille Leaf

DoC 1080 drop kills 8 cattle – farmers tell their story (the GrafBoys)

DoC’s lawyers ask the judge that their scientist not be questioned in the Hunua Ranges 1080 drop case

Predator free 2050 – creating a generation who ‘find killing animals weirdly addictive’

Long-lived kea die after visit from DOC, who insisted on taking blood samples – long-term carers blame the department for their death (video)

How the NZ Govt’s 1080 pesticide company re branded itself and why

Two academics have hit out at the Government’s Predator Free 2050 goal, calling it “badly designed and unachievable”

School holidays still & Corner Peak Route in the Timaru 1080 drop zone is still littered with whole cinnamon flavoured baits!

With certain species on brink of extinction, two top scientists are lifting the lid on DoC’s “toxic” culture of corporate ideals – “the department has lost its way” says one

Go into a 1080-poisoned forest, see for yourself says a NZ bushman of 35 years – non target birds are dying

DOC withholds information after demands from Thompson and Clark

Another 1080 PROTEST: 2 groups, 600 strong are demanding Ministerial intervention to stop DoC’s 1080 drop on Rakitu Island (22 June)

Resistance to using 1080 grows in Far North: DoC has misled the public on operations costs, consultation & perceived support

DoC sows 1080 bait on snow in spite of their Code of Practice saying not to

Correspondence from OSPRI on their deliberate release of TB infected possums

Poison just lying around in the bush alarms overseas visitor – in same area the pig that poisoned the Putararu family came from

DoC says the 30 international bankers touring Fiordland last month were about recovering our kākāpō and takahē yet still no mention in mainstream media?

DoC’s Response:

Dept of Conservation Prying Spying Gets Caned

Watching our environment … our health … and corporations … exposing lies and corruption

OIA reveals false claims from DoC

The answer, back then, was six:

THREE.

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* About the late William (Bill) Benfield:

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DoC’s Response:

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Watching our environment … our health … and corporations … exposing lies and corruption