Greens, minister dispute wildlife info

Conservation Minister Maggie Barry has denied 142 species have come closer to extinction under a National Government.

Figures released by the minister’s office to the Green Party show the status of a large number of species has worsened since 2008 (under the National Government), including kea, Antipodes wandering albatross, and the flesh-footed shearwater.

Kea and ground weta were included in 84 species that had changed from being ‘‘at risk’’ to ‘‘threatened’’.

Fifty-eight species had changed from being ‘‘not threatened’’ to ‘‘at risk’’ or ‘‘threatened’’.

The Greens’ conservation spokesman, Kevin Hague, attributed the decline to funding cuts and a strain on facilities.

However, Barry said there may have been some ‘‘disingenuous interpretation’’ of the figures and DOC had made some ‘‘adjustments’’ to the way species were classified.

‘‘It’s not complete in itself,’’ she said.

‘‘The more we find out about different species, the more we technically can reclassify them; for example the albatrosses, we’ve discovered that there are another two species.’’

There were 14 species that were actually in decline, she said.

Hague argued the figures provided as an answer to his written parliamentary question came from her office, so it was ‘‘simply a fact’’ these species were classified as closer to extinction.

‘‘Seventy per cent of those don’t have action plans for their recovery,’’ he said.

The minister cited a ‘‘broadbased’’ approach to wildlife protection, rather than individual species-specific action plans, concentrating on operations such as pest control.

‘‘We’ve taken the political courage of using 1080 in landscape form to knock back the things that are killing our protective species.’’

Barry said DOC has been receiving more money.

In 2008 DOC had been operating on $316 million from Government funding, she said, and that had grown to the current figure of $391million.

But Hague said the money allocated to DOC did not reflect what is spent: ‘‘What they spend is actually substantially less than that.’’

Hague claimed the minister had been ‘‘confusing some things’’ in the way she talked about funding.

The Greens said funding had dropped by $29m since 2008. These figures have been calculated based on Vote Conservation estimates from the Treasury and Statistics New Zealand.

They said this included departmental and non-departmental spending.

The conservation minister’s office was working to make funding figures available.

DOC had made changes to the way species, including albatross, were classified, Maggie Barry said, in reply to the Greens’ claim of an increase in threatened species.