Tag Archives: Fiordland

Government poisoning of World Heritage sites in NZ – an open letter from Dr Jo Pollard to IUCN World Headquarters

June 26, 2020 Pam Vernon

Peter Shadie
Director, IUCN World Heritage Programme
IUCN World Headquarters
Rue Mauverney 28
1196 Gland
Switzerland
email: peter.shadie@iucn.org

11 June 2020

Dear Mr Shadie

Re: Government poisoning of World Heritage sites in New Zealand – Open letter

I am writing to bring your attention to the serious issue of the New Zealand Government’s aerial poisoning of a World Heritage site and hope that you will urgently contact the World Heritage Committee so they may act on this matter. The 40,000 ha Wet Jacket area is to be aerially poisoned this month under contract to the government’s Department of Conservation (DoC). This poisoning is not justified as the appropriate scientific or technical measure necessary for the conservation of this site, and would breach New Zealand’s obligations under the World Heritage Convention.

The contractor’s application to DoC (attached) to poison the Wet Jacket area describes a hotspot of biodiversity, home to at least 17 species of endangered birds as well as 25 other species of birds. Six species of lizard have been recorded including the rare Fiordland skink. The invertebrate fauna is described as “not fully explored” and “distinctive and important” (Contract Wild Animal Control, 2019).

The 1080 poison to be used is broad spectrum, affecting organisms that breathe oxygen (ERMA, 2007). It is added to cereal food baits and distributed from hoppers carried beneath helicopters. The distribution process creates fragments (Morgan et al. 2015) and dust (Wright et al., 2002). Native lizards, birds and invertebrates are all known to feed on the cereal bait (ERMA 2007). The poison is highly toxic, readily contaminates despite stringent precautions, travels rapidly in water and up food chains, causes reproductive defects across a vast range of species and has highly variable effects which remain poorly understood, with studies being sparse and of poor quality (ERMA, 2007).

Due to poor monitoring, effects of 1080 poisoning on populations of most NZ native animals are unknown (ERMA, 2007; Whiting-O’Keefe & Whiting-O’Keefe, 2007). Only six species of birds were reported as reliably monitored through 1080 drops. Of those, fernbirds suffered most with an estimated 9% loss of the local population per poisoning (Fairweather et al., 2015). Kea have also been intensively monitored, with the finding that on average 12% of birds are killed per operation (DoC, 2016).

The Application to poison the Wet Jacket area shows significant shortcomings, as follow.

Benefits

The reason given for poisoning the Wet Jacket area is to “protect the health and integrity of the flora and fauna susceptible to predation by rats, stoats and possums.” It lists animal species it considers particularly in need of protection: bats, kiwi, parakeets, kea and fiordland crested penguins.

These claims of susceptibility are not referenced or supported by scientific observations. In fact, it was concluded twice that predation was not a problem to kea (Jackson, 1969; Elliot & Kemp, 1999). Short-tailed bats were considered relatively safe from predators, being fast and agile, fiercely mobbing intruders and choosing winter roosts that were inaccessible (Lloyd et al., 2005). “Evidence” of predation of long tailed bats was just an observed association between low bat survival and high rat numbers (Pryde et al 2005; O’Donnell et al., 2011). Doc has attributed failures of some of its invasively monitored bird nests to predators, however they are not representative of undisturbed nests (Ellenberg et al., 2015).

Costs

Known costs left out of the Application include negative ecological effects from aerial poisoning. In many cases, rat numbers rebound to vast new heights within months (Innes et al., 1995; 2010; Powlesland et al., 1999; Ruscoe et al. 2008; Sweetapple et al., 2006). This effect can decimate prey such as invertebrates (Sweetapple & Nugent, 2007). Re-poisoning of rats is likely to become less and less effective due to the rats learning and developing physical tolerance (Byrom et al., 2013; Mitel, 2016; Pollard, 2016). Thus the Eglinton Valley (also in World Heritage site Fiordland National Park) has just received its fourth aerial poisoning in five years (2014, 2016, 2019, 2020). Despite increasing the intensity of the poisoning for rats in September 2019 (DoC, 2019a) another poisoning was carried out this May.

Mouse numbers usually increase soon after aerial poisoning (Innes et al., 1995; Sweetapple & Nugent, 2007, Ruscoe et al., 2008). The increases in rodents during the months after poisoning create ideal conditions to for stoats to flourish (Byrom et al., 2013). In addition, stoats that survived aerial poisoning were found to switch from eating rats to eating native birds (Murphy et al., 1988).

The Application contains no discussion of the conservation importance of the loss of kea, with previous studies indicating a 12% loss of local birds is expected. DoC claims that kea in remote areas are unlikely to get poisoned, however 9% of marked birds were killed by 1080 in an area chosen by DoC to represent remoteness (Kemp et al., 2016 unpublished). The total number of wild kea left is unknown and possibly less than 1000 ((Bond & Diamond, 1992; Harper, 2012; Roy, 2016).

Issues not addressed

Important issues left out of the Application include how much bait will enter the marine area; what effects there will be of baits, fragments and dust in the littoral zone (e.g. on penguins) and in the productive areas of shallow, still water; what will the effects be of the predicted “zero grazing ungulates” (being the last large grazing animals left); what are the chances of cold weather killing off rats in winter if they are left unpoisoned; should a highly diverse, unexplored ecological community be poisoned to try to make it better; what will be done if pest animal numbers are low, without poisoning.

DoC has a strong track record in misleading, pro-poisoning behaviour. It intrudes on nesting birds, attaches equipment to them and their nests, blames predators for nesting failures, then uses the poor nesting results to justify predator control (e.g. for kea (Kemp et al., 2014, unpublished), mohua (Elliott 1996), kiwi (Waterworth, 2019) and kaka (Moorhouse et al., 2003)). It quotes increased “nesting success” as an indication of a bird population’s positive response to poisoning, but nesting success is likely to increase if a population is culled (Nilsson 1984; Arcese & Smith 1988). “Five minute bird counts” are used by DoC to assess bird numbers. This method is notoriously unreliable (Westbrooke & Powlesland 2005; ERMA 2007; Green & Pryde 2012; Hartley 2012), due to major problems such as bird calls increasing after poisoning as birds try to find their dead partners and family, or search for new company.

DoC’s pro-poisoning bias and lack of scientific honesty are also apparent in its publications. For example a stoat plague that followed DoC’s aerial poisoning at Okarito (Kemp et al., 2015, unpublished) was truncated from the published graph (Kemp et al., 2017), despite this being an important outcome. In another example, in a study on bats after a 1080 operation, the contents of one bat roost tree had spilled onto open ground. Inspection revealed a baby bat with placenta attached, which tested positive for 1080. Other roosts in the study were inspected for dead and dying bats by roost camera “where practical” (Edmonds & Pryde, 2015). The published paper has a re-worded section of the original report that now insinuates all roosts were searched equally for dead babies (Edmonds et al., 2017).

The claim that some Eglinton Valley birds are prospering due to DoC’s 1080 poisoning (Minister of Conservation’s media release 11/4/20) is impossible to make: poison in bait stations and trapping are used to try to control mammals in the Eglinton Valley and any separate effects of 1080 cannot be assessed. Mohua (including some from the Wet Jacket area) were restocked there in 2010, 2015 and 2017.

Due to low rodent densities the Wet Jacket area poisoning was postponed in October 2019 (DoC, 2019c). The poisoning has since been promoted in the media as being needed to kill stoats, on the unscientific basis that local, heavily monitored kiwi chicks haven’t been surviving (Waterworth, 2020). These locally monitored kiwi weren’t even mentioned in the Application. There may be a very low stoat kill rate if there is a lack of poisoned rats for them to eat. If the poisoning proceeds regardless of low pest numbers, this will not be unusual. Makarora was poisoned in 2017 for rats despite low numbers (data accessed 22/3/17 via Official Information Act request); poisoning of Arthurs Pass in 2019 went ahead with no rats (data accessed 8/10/19) (mice were present but 1080 pellets are not usually eaten by mice (Fisher & Airey, 2009).

A fraction of the resources being used to poison the Wet Jacket area could support careful, scientific studies of the biodiversity and ecology of the area before a management plan is decided upon. Where populations of rare organisms are considered in immediate danger, localised, benign management can be applied, such as tree banding and caging, and protecting nesting kiwi and kea from DoC staff.

I trust you will act to prevent the unfounded wholesale poisoning of this precious site.

Yours sincerely

Dr Joanna Pollard (BSc (Hons), PhD)

See the IUCN reply to Dr Pollard below references.

References

Arcese, P., Smith, J.M., 1988. Effects of population density and supplemental food on reproduction in song sparrows. Journal of Animal Ecology 57: 119-136.

Bond, A., Diamond, J., 1992. Population estimates of Kea in Arthur’s Pass National Park. Notornis 39: 151-160.

Byrom, A., Banks, P., Dickman, C. & Pech, R., 2013. Will reinvasion stymie large-scale eradication of invasive mammals in New Zealand? Kararehe Kino 21: 6-7.

Contract Wild Animal Control, 2019b. Completed DoC Application form for predator control in the Wet Jacket Area. 34 pp.

DoC, 2016. Aerial 1080 in kea habitat. Code of Practice. NZ Department of Conservation Unclassified document. 24 pp.

DoC, 2019a. Application for DoC permission to use vertebrate VTAs assessment report: Clinton and Eglinton catchments. 11 pp.

DoC, 2019b. https://www.doc.govt.nz/our-work/monitoring-reporting/national-status-and-trend-reports-2018-2019/?report=TaxaUnderManagement_Ltbats

DoC, 2019c. Revocation permission ID DoC 5909386.

Edmonds, H., Pryde, M., 2015. Eglinton Valley lesser short-tailed bat monitoring programme 2014/2015. DOCDM 1568082 15 pp.

Edmonds, H., Pryde, M., O’Donnell, C., 2017. Survival of PIT-tagged lesser short-tailed bats (Mystacina tuberculata) through an aerial 1080 pest control. New Zealand Journal of Ecology 17: 186-192.

Ellenberg, U., Edwards, E., Mattern, T., Hiscock, J.A., Wilson, R. & Edmonds, H., 2015. Assessing the impact of nest searches on breeding birds – a case study on Fiordland crested penguins (Eudyptes pachyrhynchus). New Zealand Journal of Ecology 39: 231-244.

Elliott, G., Kemp, J., 1999. Conservation ecology of kea (Nestor notabilis). WWF-NZ Final Report 1 August 1999, 64 pp.

ERMA Review, 2007. Environmental Risk Management Authority’s reassessment of 1080, 2007, Application HRE05002.

Fairweather, A, Broome, K., Fisher, P., 2015. Sodium fluoroacetate pesticide information review. Department of Conservation Report Docdm-25427. 103 pp.

Fisher, P., Airey, A.T., 2009. Factors affecting 1080 pellet bait acceptance by house mice (Mus musculus). Department of Conservation DOC Research & Development Series Feb-Mar 305-308

Greene, T.C., Pryde, M.A., 2012. Three population estimation methods compared for a known South Island robin population in Fiordland, New Zealand. New Zealand Journal of Ecology 36: 340-252.

Guthrie, 2017. https://predatorfreenz.org/long-term-study-reveals-bat-response-predator-control/

Harper, P., 2012. DOC shocked five Kea shot dead. Nestor Notabilis 6: 24.

Hartley, LJ 2012. Five-minute bird counts in New Zealand. New Zealand Journal of Ecology 36: 268-278.

Innes, J., Kelly, D., Overton, J., Gilles, C. 2010. Predation and other factors currently limiting New Zealand forest birds. New Zealand Journal of Ecology 34: 86-114.

Innes, J., Warburton, B., Williams, D., Speed, H., Bradfield, P. 1995. Large-scale poisoning of ship rats (Rattus rattus) in indigenous forests of the North Island, New Zealand. New Zealand Journal of Ecology 19: 5-17.

Jackson, J.R., 1969. What do keas die of? Notornis 16: 33-44.

Kemp, J., Orr-Walker, T., Elliott, G., Adams, N., Fraser, J., Roberts, L., Mosen, C., Amey, J., Barrett, B., Makan, T., 2014, unpublished. Benefits to kea (Nestor notabilis) populations from invasive mammal control via aerial 1080 baiting. Department of Conservation. 29 pp.

Kemp, J., Cunninghame, F., Barrett, B., Makan, T., Fraser, J., Mosen, C., 2015, unpublished. Effect of an aerial 1080 operation on the productivity of the kea (Nestor notabilis) in a West Coast rimu forest. Department of Conservation report. 15 pp.

Kemp, J., Hunter, C., Mosen, C., Elliott, G., 2016, unpublished. Draft: Kea population responses to aerial 1080 treatment in South Island landscapes. Department of Conservation, 14 pp.

Kemp, J., Mosen, C., Elliott, G., Hunter, C., 2018. Effects of the aerial application of 1080 to control pest mammals on kea reproductive success, New Zealand Journal of Ecology 42: 158-168.

King, 1984. Immigrant Killers. Introduced Predators and the conservation of birds in New Zealand. Oxford University Press.

Mitel, S., 2016. https://timnovate.wordpress.com/2016/12/31/the-mice-and-rats-are-winning/

Moorhouse, R., Greene, T., Dilks, P., Powlesland, R., Moran, L., Taylor, G., Jones, A., Knegtmans, J., Wills, D., Pryde, M., Fraser, I., August, A., August, C. 2003: Control of introduced mammalian predators improves kaka Nestor meridionalis breeding success: reversing the decline of a threatened New Zealand parrot. Biological Conservation 110: 33–44.

Morgan, D., Hickling, G. 2000. Techniques Used for Poisoning Possums, in TL Montague (ed. The brushtail possum: biology, impact and management, Manaaki Whenua Press, Lincoln, pp. 143-153.

Murphy, E., Clapperton, B., Bradfield, P., Speed, H. 1998. Effects of rat-poisoning on abundance and diet of mustelids in New Zealand podocarp forests. NZ J Zoology 25: 315-328.

Nilsson, S.G., 1984. The evolution of nest-site selection among hole-nesting birds: The importance of nest predation and competition. Ornis Scandinavica 15: 167-175.

Pollard. J.C., 2016. Aerial 1080 poisoning in New Zealand: Reasons for concern.

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/308712508_Aerial_1080_poisoning_in_New_Zealand_Reasons_for_concern 17 pp.

Powlesland, R., Knegtmans, J., Marshall, I. 1999. Costs and benefits of aerial 1080 possum control operations using carrot baits to North Island Robins (Petroica australis longipes), Pureora Forest Park. NZ J Ecology 23: 149-159.

Roy, E.A., 2016. New Zealand kea, the world’s only alpine parrot, faces extinction

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/sep/21/new-zealand-kea-the-worlds-only-alpine-parrot-faces-extinction

Ruscoe, W., Sweetapple, P., Yockney, I., Pech, R., Barron, M., Cave, S., Ramsey, D. 2008. Interactions of mammalian pest populations following control. Kararehe Kino Vertebrate Pest Research 13: 4-6.

Sweetapple, P., Nugent, G., Poutu, N., Horton, P. 2006. Effect of reduced possum density on rodent and stoat abundance in podocarp-hardwood forests. Science for Conservation 231. 25 pp.

Sweetapple, P & Nugent, G 2007 Secondary Effects of Possum Control. Kararehe Kino 11: 9-10.

Waterworth, K., 2019. https://www.odt.co.nz/regions/southland/stoat-chick-toll-erasing-tokoeka

Waterworth, K., 2020. https://www.odt.co.nz/regions/fiordland/poison-drop-stop-predation-kiwi

Westbrooke, I.M., Powlesland, R.G., 2005. Comparison of impact between carrot and cereal 1080 baits on tomtits (Petroica macrocephala). New Zealand Journal of Ecology 29: 143-147.

Whiting O’Keefe, P., Whiting-O’Keefe, Q., Aerial monofluoroactate in New Zealand’s forests. An appraisal of the scientific evidence. 89 pp.

Click to access Whiting-Okeefe-2.pdf

Wright, G., Booth, L., Morriss, G., Potts, M., Brown, L., Eason, C. 2002. Assessing potential environmental contamination from compound 1080 (sodium monofluoroacetate) in bait dust during possum control operations. New Zealand Journal of Agricultural Science 45: 57-65.

IUCN’S REPLY TO DR POLLARD:

DoC’s been doubling down on their Sth. Is. 1080 poisoning operations-Jacinda’s magic money tree?

June 1, 2020 Pam Vernon 5 Comments

JACINDA’S MAGIC MONEY TREE – LIST OF 1080 OPERATIONS BELOW

By Carol Sawyer

Never have I seen so many winter aerial 1080 operations as now!

They barely gave themselves a breathing space.

The Dept of Conservation aerially 1080-poisoned 61,000 hectares of the Waitutu Forest and the Princess Mountains, Fiordland, March 11-12, 2020, two weeks before lockdown.

Then, as soon as we went into Level 2, they poisoned the Eglinton Valley, Fiordland. (Started on 19 May; completed on May 25, 2020).

1) Eglinton Valley, Fiordland, 7,842 hectares (last poisoned September, 2019; poisoned again May, 2020)

2) Waikaia Forest, Northern Southland, 7,000 hectares (fourth poisoning in 5.5 years, scheduled June, 2020)

3) Wet Jacket Peninsula, Dusky Sound, Fiordland, 40,000 hectares (never before poisoned)

4) Nelson Lakes National Park, Lake Rotoiti, Mt Robert and the headwaters of Lake Rotoroa, 34,000 hectares (notified by VCS Marlborough, July 1 to August 31, but not yet poisoned)

5) Mt Te Kinga forests, Lake Brunner, West Coast, 3,700 hectares, (notified, RNZ news item 29 May, but not yet poisoned)

6) Punakaiki, West Coast, 43,000 hectares (notified by VCS Greymouth, but not yet poisoned)

7) Buller South, West Coast ( Paparoa Range as well as foothills and Pakihi terraces between the Buller River and Four Mile Road south of Charleston), 18,500 hectares (notified, OSPRI, July 2020)

8) Radiant Range and Mokihinui, West Coast, 72,460 hectares ( notified, OSPRI, July 2020)

TOTAL HECTARES (including Waitutu) = 390,000 hectares and 780 tonnes of 1080 poison baits.

How could I have been so wrong?! I seriously thought a pandemic and its ensuing economic chaos would put an end to aerial 1080 poison. I thought the government might have a last blast but this is something else. Jacinda’s Labour Government has turned 1080 poisoning and trapping into a make-work scheme. The only income this scheme makes is from the TAXPAYER!!!

I think the only thing that will end aerial 1080 poison and this mad desire to kill everything introduced into our forests will be nuclear war.

Photo – Lake Brunner, West Coast, South Island from ‘100% Pure New Zealand’, 🤣,Tourism NZ

1080, DOC, Kea, Native Birds in decline, News

DoC’s own census on Kea numbers reveals a decline from 60,000 in the 1970s, to an estimated 1 to 4,000 now … an open letter to Amanda Gillies

March 11, 2020 Pam Vernon 1 Comment

AN OPEN LETTER TO AMANDA GILLIES by Jeff Patchett

(posted by Carol Sawyer)

“Our little piece of paradise was ruined for ever”

Introduction: On yesterday’s ‘AM Show’, the usual garbage about people opposed to 1080 was spouted by Duncan Garner and Mark Richardson. (Go to ‘The AM Show Catch-Up’, 9 March, 2020 – and fast forward to 2 hours, 25 minutes.) According to them, anti-1080 people are a ‘loud, ignorant, uneducated group” of “extremists”. Amanda Gillies said there may be some issues with 1080 but she didn’t think it was “the devil incarnate”. However Amanda was not strident and fixed in her views than the other two, so Jeff Patchett of Brightwater, Nelson wrote her a letter. Here it is:

“Dear Amanda,

I am writing to you specifically because I respect you and your values. You have a compassionate heart.

I have always been a fan of The A.M. Show until Duncan Garner suggested Willie Apiata take some of the anti-1080 people into the bush and deal with them. I was absolutely appalled at these comments. My family here in Blenheim lost five men in the First World War (1914 Blenheim population approx. 2000). My Dad and uncle both served in WW2. Dad had an especially torrid time, as he fought at Monte Casino, one of the War’s most horrific battles. For Garner to say that he wished Willie would use some of his special skill set on fellow Kiwis makes a croc of shit out of the family fighting and dying for the Freedom of Speech. Is that not hate speech?

Anyway I didn’t watch you guys again until recently and nothing’s changed. The A.M. Show had a young speaker.. a man from “Forest and Bird” welcoming the government’s new initiative on Predator Free 2050. He is in a paid job and is only spouting his puppet masters’ views. How long would anyone in Forest and Bird, OSPRI, or DoC last if they had the balls to speak the truth on 1080 ? ‘Forest and Bird’ wrote to the Dept of Conservation in the mid-seventies, telling DoC they were not happy with the number of native birds 1080 was killing each year. Something changed their minds and they are now fully behind its use.

Garner mentioned (former Parliamentary Commissoner for the Environment) Jan Wright and her change of heart with 1080. (Please look up 1080science.co.nz and read for yourself how much the old girl got wrong).

I was 100% for 1080 in 1998 when the ‘powers that be’ came knocking to say we needed 1080 to kill the possums that infected my large cattle herd with bovine TB. (Australia has possums, they are protected natives and they have never been linked to TB. Incidentally bovine TB has been eradicated in Australia since 2002.)

Like most people in 1998, we knew nothing of 1080 and if it got rid of TB we would welcome it. I even suggested they could land the choppers on our lawn if it helped. Well, they completed the drop and buggered off and left us to it. A few days passed and my neighbour told us that he had just found our pet Wekas in the house water supply. I spent the next three weeks dragging dead pigs, deer, and a large assortment of birds from the creek, and its many tributaries, that was our drinking water. I was the only one in our family to get a guts ache from the water.

About a month went by and the full impact of the drop hit us. The bush that normally teemed with birds was quiet. We have never seen a single Tomtit or heard a Ruru, even to this day. Our little piece of paradise was ruined for ever.

Things got worse though. After Christmas dinner we walked to the top of our mountain (Mt.Patriarch) and waited for the Kea to show up. Even their high-pitched screams would have been enough, but not even that happened. My son and I visited the tops several more times and again no Kea. They were gone. Generations of people had witnessed these cheeky birds and DoC had killed the lot – all 23 of them gone.

I then followed up on other Kea colonies that I knew of. They all seemed to disappear after 1080 drops. Mt Robert, the Rainbow, and Ferny Gair all had Kea until 1080 was used. I believe there are now no Kea in Marlborough. These declines in Kea numbers are reflected in DoC’s own census – sixty thousand in the 1970’s, to between one thousand and four thousand now. I personally believe the number to be less than a thousand ( 600?). Rats, stoats, and possums were about in the 1970’s in as big a number as today. The Kea’s habitat has not changed at all, and even redneck Mark Richardson and Duncan Garner would have to agree that DoC’s ‘lead head nail’ story is absolute bullshit. DoC have, with the help of OSPRI, put our alpine clown bird on the endangered list. They will make them extinct in the wild the way they are going.

Contrary to what redneck Mark said about anti-1080 people being a fringe element there are 300,000 people on ‘Ban 1080’ sites. We are bigger than “Forest and Bird”. We are made up of all sorts of folk. We have scientists (two in my family alone), builders, lawyers, doctors, teachers, anyone who can think for themselves and anyone who takes the time to look into the 1080 issue with an open mind. Also there are thousands who, like me, have witnessed the horror of 1080 for themselves. In 2018 a poll of newspaper readers in Blenheim was taken by the Marlborough Express on the banning of 1080. Almost four thousand people responded – 85% against 1080. On the West Coast of the South Island a survey found that figure to be a massive 93% against 1080. Even DoC’s own poll in 2016 had the anti-1080’s at over 60%.

Most anti-1080 people have more then one reason why 1080 should go. Here are mine:

1) It is extremely cruel. I have lost six dogs to it and have witnessed one dog die from it. Not very pleasant.

2) It has entered our food chain. Wild game and some fish with sub-lethal doses. Also what about the cattle and sheep that have eaten it and not died from it ?

3) Tourists are responding negatively to the signage. Trout fishermen are no longer coming.

4) The users of 1080 are not following the guidelines – i.e. keep out of water, bury dead animals, pick up unused bait.

5) It’s killing non-target animals. A survey of 10% of NZ vets in one year put the tally of 1080-poisoned dogs brought to them at 65. (Former PCE Jan Wright knew of only 7 poisoned dogs. There were 18 poisoned dogs in our 1080 drop alone.)

6) It is a teratogen – i.e.causes abnormalities to the unborn. DoC are finding this in baby Kea and other birds.

7) 1080 has ruined a very valuable export market. The wild game and fur industries were huge in the 1970’s – 80’s. Probably worth half a billion in today’s money.

8) Takes natural food away from people who can’t afford to pay for meat. This has a huge impact on families in the far north and on the West Coast.

9) Clean and Green NZ. Yeah right. “Forest and Bird’ and DoC always say “Look at the science”. Their own scientist in the 1960’s told them it would be a disaster to use 1080 ( Dr. Mike Mead). His scientist peers agreed, but it still happened.

Most of DoC’s ‘science’ can be picked to bits with not much trouble. There are dozens of far cleverer people than the underpaid DoC scientists, and if TV3 gave them a chance to speak ,on nationwide TV, 1080 would be gone tomorrow.

All I wish, Amanda, is that you look into 1080 with an open mind. Mark has self-promotion and the National Party on his, so I would never expect any change in his attitude. Duncan Garner acts out of ignorance and I bet he has never for one moment thought an opposing view on 1080. Maori believe the Morepork (Ruru) takes their soul to heaven. Duncan won’t get there because that particular bird will be dead (extinct) long before he is.

Kind regards,

Jeff Patchett
Brightwater
Nelson”

Photos below – Mt Patriarch from Jeff Patchett’s farm – Photo Jeff Patchett; Tomtit (male) Pixabay; Kea feeding chick, Fiordland 1920, DoC files.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Header Image by Ildigo from Pixabay

1080, Birds, Native Birds in decline, News, Poison

Silent forest now in Fiordland’s Hollyford Valley – no birds – only cicadas & tourist traffic a local reports

February 14, 2019 Pam Vernon 1 Comment

Do not feed the Kea the sign above advises. Ironic isn’t it? They’ve been fed 1080 unfortunately by the very corporation which purports to protect them. We know 1080 kills every breathing organism (according to Dr Meriel Watts) so what else can we expect? Ten thousand birds in one drop a Landcare scientist has calculated for one of DoC’s drops. This is so not rocket science & yet here we have another sad testimony of the increasingly silent forests. This one is from Carol Sawyer.

HOLLYFORD VALLEY, FIORDLAND NATIONAL PARK, DEVASTATING AERIAL 1080 POISON DROP, OCTOBER 2017 – 18 MONTHS LATER, STILL DISASTROUS RESULTS – NO RECOVERY !

By Carol Sawyer

Yesterday I visited the Hollyford Valley in Fiordland. What a silent place, apart from the cicadas and the tourist traffic. This road is dangerously busy. One rental car passed me on a double yellow line…this is standard.

FANTAIL PIC TE ARA. 1080S DESTROYED ALL FANTAILS AROUND GUNNS CAMP HV FIORDLAND — All of the fantails have gone from around Gunn’s Camp at Hollyford Valley, Fiordland, NZ Photo: Te Ara

A recent survey found this narrow winding road has, on average, 150 buses and 1200 cars on it every day. Knob’s Flat is about to have a $30 million lodge put in by the Milford Development Co, so the influx is going to be even greater.

The toilets are so disgusting that I was told yesterday that some bus tour drivers stop and let their passengers toilet in the forest so they don’t have to deal with the assault on their senses. ( Attached is a photo Shane Wilson took of the toilets at The Divide, on the Hollyford Road, about a year ago. I was going to take a photo myself yesterday but the stench the minute I opened the door truly had me reeling backwards, so I didn’t. )

The 1080 drop in the Lower and Upper Hollyford Valleys in Fiordland, 5-6 October, 2017 has been an unmitigated disaster ! The area had never been 1080 poisoned before.

Read on….

RATS :

For many years, there has been a volunteer trapping programme in place around Gunn’s Camp on the Hollyford Road. Ninety-eight traps are set along approximately 20 kms of the Hollyford Road, back into the bush a bit, from Marian Corner to Humboldt Creek and for a couple of kilometres beyond the end of the road.

These traps are set approximately 200 metres apart, and they are cleared every three weeks, weather permitting. For years, these traps averaged a total of 6 to 12 rats every three weeks, all up.

After the 1080 drop, the next couple of trap clearances yielded very little. This is what one would expect immediately after an aerial 1080 drop.

Five months later, March 2018, the traps were cleared and contained 32 rats. Interestingly, some of the traps had two rats in them, which is apparently unusual.

The following weekend the tally was 24 rats. That equates to 54 rats in a period of 6 weeks, whereas prior to the drop one could have expected, at the most, 12 to 24 rats to be caught in that time.

Rats had NEVER been caught here in these numbers before !

Things have not improved. The latest trap clearance, February, 2019, yielded 19 rats and 7 stoats !!

( These results come from inside the Dept of Conservation itself, but I doubt that they would have seen the light of day if they were not exposed here ! DoC need to understand that not all their employees agree with their poisoning ways.)

BIRDS :

KAKA PHOTO. BIRDING NZ. SPECIES NRLY WIPED OUT BY 1080 IN HOLL VLY — Kaka almost wiped out in Hollyford Valley, Photo: Birding NZ

Gunn’s camp in the Hollyford was a Kaka haven. Twenty to forty Kaka were regularly seen there, and as many as fifty were counted on one occasion.

Moreporks ( Ruru ) abounded. One Morepork used to sit behind a generator shed there, and when the generator was turned off every night it then became very vocal. It was a loved ‘character’ of this special place.

All Kaka disappeared after the drop. Eighteen months later up to 3 Kaka have been seen and a Morepork was heard in the distance one night a while ago, according to regulars ( The “generator” Morepork was obviously killed by the poison. ) Fantails are gone.

I guess the DoC poisoners will be back again this year, for their biennial onslaught

COMMENT AT FACEBOOK ON THIS ARTICLE:

“Yes try finding birdlife in the Lindus Pass now days, it’s pretty much NON existent”

If you’ve noticed the same anywhere in NZ, please add your comments to our ‘Silent Forests’ page. Just let me know if you want anonymity or if I can add your name. Thank you.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Photos at Hollyford Valley, Fiordland, NZ (Carol Sawyer)

DoC’s Hollyford Valley Sign
Hollyford River
Hollyford Valley
Hollyford River
Gunn’s Camp

SOURCE

NOTE: For further articles on 1080 use categories at left of the news page.

If you are new to the 1080 poisoning program, a must watch is Poisoning Paradise, the doco made by the GrafBoys (banned from screening on NZ TV, yet a 4x international award winner). Their website is tv-wild.com. Their doco is a very comprehensive overview with the independent science to illustrate the question marks that remain over the use of this poison. There are links also on our 1080 resources page to most of the groups, pages, sites etc that will provide you with further information to make your own informed decision on this matter.

1080, Birds, Kea, News, Poison

The decimation of our native Kea – we are watching one of New Zealand’s greatest environmental tragedies taking place!

January 4, 2019 Pam Vernon

A WELL-KNOWN TE ANAU HELICOPTER PILOT SPEAKS OUT ABOUT THE LOSS OF KEA DUE TO AERIAL 1080 POISON

Carol Sawyer

If anyone would know about Kea numbers in Fiordland, Dick Deaker would.

Fiordland helicopter pilot Dick Deaker is one of the central figures in the deer recovery industry through its peak to today. He began as a deer culler, moved from fixed wing to helicopters and then into live recovery and the “Deer Wars”.

He says :

“There has only been one Kea seen in the Earl Mountains, (Fiordland National Park), since the last big 1080 poison drop there. We rarely see any in the Kepler Mountains since the last big drop – one at the Luxmore Hut. Prior to the last drop up to six Kea hung around the hut.

Plenty of Kea on western catchments! The Grebe catchment has never been poisoned, and it is not unusual to see up to 100+ some mornings. Groups of six or more are common.

I spoke to S…. G….. of Tuatapere a couple of weeks ago. When they 1080’ed Rata Burn West last time he never saw a Kea again for two years!! It was the home of Kea!

kea carols post — *Dick Deaker (posted by permission)*

We are watching one of New Zealand’s greatest environmental tragedies taking place! Worse than the introductions of stoats, ferrets, possums, wilding pines etc. that were all brought in by government agencies of bygone years!”

Header Photo: wikipedia

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

1080, Chemical Sprays, Chemicals, Herbicides, News, Poison

Why is a NZ vineyard that’s certified organic using poison that kills falcons?

October 13, 2017 Pam Vernon 1 Comment

Thanks to Carol Sawyer for this piece of investigation. Just how organic is organic these days? With NZ’s current sell out to corporate interests I’m wondering more and more. Just how honest are these industries being? Some of these people just refuse to examine the independent research and profits win out over our health & conservation. Folk need to think about this as they purchase products from a country that falsely advertises itself as ‘clean and green’, and pledges to be protecting its wildlife. Gone are the days. All these advertising ploys are just that and pay little more than lip service it appears, to sustainable practices. EnvirowatchRangitikei

I have talked to many, many Central Otago vineyards over the last month and it has … become completely clear to me that it is perfectly possible to maintain a low, no-nuisance rabbit population without using cruel poisons… Carol Sawyer

PEREGRINE WINES, CENTRAL OTAGO – KILLING FALCONS ?

Why is a vineyard that names itself after a FALCON, has a brand logo that is a stylised falcon, and is certified organic with BioGro, using a poison that will kill falcons by secondary poisoning ?!!! Today I have been sent these photos and the irony has just struck me.

Their website says “A natural extension of our passion for the land, Peregrine are dedicated to helping protect some of New Zealand’s rarest native birds. As well as taking part personally in some of this country’s most successful preservation programs, Peregrine is proud to have worked with the Wingspan Trust, the Department of Conservation and the Fiordland Conservation Trust.” ???!!!!!!

I have been compiling a register of Central Otago vineyards who do not use cruel poisons on their vineyards, (see link is below also, but it is not yet complete) and when I spoke to Peregrine about a month ago I was told they had used Pindone on some of their surrounding land on the river boundary, but about 30 metres from the vines. I have today rung the poison contractor (name supplied). That information I was given was incorrect. He has told me that Pindone was spread on ALL their surrounding land, just not on the vineyards

The Eastern Falcon DOES eat carrion and can be killed by ingesting poisoned rabbits. Many hawks are killed this way too. NOT GOOD ENOUGH PEREGRINE !!!

I have talked to many, many Central Otago vineyards over the last month and it has therefore become completely clear to me that it is perfectly possible to maintain a low, no-nuisance rabbit population without using cruel poisons. The vast majority of vineyard managers do just that! Good rabbit fencing, shooters, and dogs work well.

Peregrine are on the Central Otago Wines register of vineyards that do not use cruel poisons (1080, Pindone, Magtoxin ) on their vineyard land. Should they stay or should they go? Is using the stuff on surrounding land acceptable?

Central Otago Wines Register here :

https://www.facebook.com/notes/carol-sawyer/central-otago-vineyards-who-do-not-use-inhumane-poisons-and-eco-toxins-1080-pind/1975084266105223/

As well as this they are exporting their wines. Peregrine say on their website : “We are thrilled to have cemented our relationship with our premium US wine importer, Vineyard Brands as a result of a visit earlier this month by Greg Doody, President and CEO of Vineyard Brands. During the trip hosted by our owners, Lindsay, Jude and Fraser McLachlan a long term business agreement was signed that will see our full range of wines distributed across the US.” It is a pity their website is so dishonest!

Carol Sawyer