Consultation on 1080 drop labelled ‘a lie’
The Department of Conservation has postponed a 1080 aerial drop in the Far North following outrage from iwi who say they were not consulted.
Whangaroa residents obtained information under the Official Information Act after hearing about DOC’s plan for an aerial drop on the 2400-hectare Whangaroa forest for winterspring to reduce pest numbers.
Spokesperson Asha Anderson said some residents were shocked to see their names listed as ‘‘fully supportive’’. ‘‘In fact, the opposite was true and some had actually spoken out against 1080 at DOC’s hui,’’ Anderson said. ‘‘This is a serious breach of trust, and included misrepresentation of a local trust and Treaty partner.’’
However, DOC said consultation with iwi and hapu¯ did take place, including discussion around ground and aerial pest control methods. ‘‘Iwi reps did not say they opposed the use of 1080,’’ a spokesperson said.
Whangaroa resident Nyree Manuel, of Kaitangata and Te Wha¯ nau Tahi hapu¯ , said the consultation was ‘‘a lie’’.
‘‘At no time did they ever ... say: do you agree to us dropping 1080 ... on to this land? When something so large as that concerning a whole group of people with multiple hapu¯ involved, that needs to be taken back to a board. [The decision] cannot be made by one person.’’ Manuel said 1080 was ‘‘poisoning our lives’’.
‘‘This is our home, where we get all our fish, our kai, we get our rongoa¯ ma¯ori [herbal medicine] out of the bush.
‘‘To continually lay toxins on to land is very concerning.’’
Te Ru¯ nanga o Whaingaroa delegate Paddy Rush said the ru¯ nanga did not agree with the use of 1080 but it was listed as being ‘‘fully supportive’’.
A DOC spokesperson said that since the OIA request and lobbying from the community ‘‘two iwi organisations advised us they did not support the use of 1080 and the consultation record was amended’’. The pest control operation would be postponed for ‘‘as long as is necessary to work through the iwi/hapu¯ concerns and reach an agreed way forward’’, the spokesperson said.
Northland advocate for Forest and Bird Dean Baigent-Mercer said the 1080 drop was desperately needed because the forest was ‘‘basically in freefall collapse’’. ‘‘There’s nearly no birds because the rats, possums, feral cats and stoats have been allowed to run wild and eat them. On top of that, there’s kauri dieback ... and extremely high pig numbers which are transferring the disease. DOC made some mistakes with their consultation, yes, but why should the forest be sacrificed because of that?’’
Anderson said residents had since held their own consultation hui. ‘‘In an area with many skilled local trappers and hunters, and where many live off the land and rely on the forest for food, water, medicine, ancestral connections and recreation year round, indiscriminately dumping poison is not an option,’’ Anderson said.
A protest labelled ‘‘Peaceful Protest Ban 1080 Poison’’ is being held in Kerikeri on September 8.