Without 1080 our forests will fall silent

It’s this simple: if we don’t continue to use 1080 to control pests, we run the risk that in 20 years most of our forests will fall silent.

The debate surrounding the re-assessment of 1080 by the Environmental Risk Management Authority has somewhat muddied that fundamental issue with suggestions that 1080 poses dangerous risks and that hunting or trapping are safer alternatives. However, such claims have little scientific basis, and if we accept them we risk silencing our dawn chorus for ever.

One of the most vocal anti-1080 lobbyists has been United Future MP Gordon Copeland, who suggests that 1080 may be a risk to human health, and proposes a bounty system to control pests.

To support his arguments, Mr Copeland states that “from the communication that I have had with various people, including doctors, I know that there is a growing unease about the possible consequences to long-term human health.” He also says that “in light of recent media reports and newly-acquired anecdotal evidence it is my opinion that 1080 is a cruel and inhumane substance.”

Mr Copeland’s chats with “various people,” anecdotal “evidence” and media reports are not sufficient foundation on which to risk the future of our forests and wildlife. He would be well-advised to refer to his own party’s own environmental policy, which states that “decisions [are] to be based on empirical evidence – not ideology … We believe that when environmental decisions are made, they should be based on robust scientific data.”

Forest & Bird agrees with that approach –and the scientific evidence strongly supports 1080 as the most effective and safe form of pest control we have.

Introduced animal pests – mainly possums, stoats, rats and deer – are the key threat to our native forests and animals. Already they have been the main factor in the extinction of many of our birds, and the continued decimation of many native plant and animal species through predation and damage to forest habitats. Without the most efficient and cost-effective system of pest control, we cannot hold back the tide of pests – and the impact on our native wildlife would be devastating.

1080 has been used to control pests in New Zealand since the 1950s. Its critics say that no other country uses 1080 as widely as New Zealand but this is because we are unique in not having any native land mammals (apart from bats), which means we can use 1080 to target mammalian pests while minimising the effects on native animal populations.

1080 works by disrupting pests’ metabolic cycle and death occurs relatively quickly from heart or respiratory failure. Studies show that 1080 breaks down rapidly in the environment – it does not persist long enough in our soils or waterways to have detrimental effects.

There are no recorded cases of 1080 causing significant adverse effects on human health. In contrast, hunting accidents are a tragically frequent occurrence, with an average one death a year through hunting accidents in New Zealand.

A 60-kilogram person would need to eat about 13 six-gram 1080 baits to receive a fatal dose – obviously the chances of doing so accidentally are virtually zero. While traces of 1080 may remain in the meat of animals for a short period after 1080 operations, a precautionary period of four months in which meat from wild animals from treated areas should not be eaten ensures this does not pose a risk to human health. This may inconvenience some hunters from time to time, but it is a small and necessary price to pay for safeguarding the future survival of our native wildlife.

Over the last 30 years extensive monitoring of bird populations following 1080 application has shown that 1080 is highly effective in reducing pest numbers, and bird numbers rapidly increase following 1080 operations. Time after time, the research has shown native bird populations – robins, kiwi, kaka, kokako and many more - thriving once the key threat of pests has been effectively reduced by use of 1080.

In contrast, bounties have been used in the past in attempts to control pests, and have been proven to be ineffective. From 1951-1961 a bounty equivalent to two shillings and sixpence a possum was offered – equivalent to $13 a possum in today’s terms – yet throughout that decade possums numbers continued to grow. The bounty encouraged possum “farming” in areas that were easy to reach – the forest fringes, while possums in the millions of hectares of our rugged back country remained unscathed. The Department of Conservation estimates that a bounty system on possums would double the cost of pest control – and would still be much less efficient in controlling pests.

Bounties also fail to deal with other pest species such as rats, which 1080 can effectively control. During recent “mast years” in South Island beech forests, when the forests produce unusually high levels of seed, rat numbers have reached plague proportions. The ensuing predation of endangered species such as the mohua (yellowhead) and kakariki by rats would have risked pushing the birds into extinction if it had not been for the use of 1080 (among other pest control tools). A bounty on rats would clearly be unfeasible.

The survival of our native birds and forests is not the only thing at stake – effective control of possums and other pests which are munching their way through millions of tonnes of forest vegetation each year may also be crucial to reducing our net greenhouse gas emissions. Halting the destruction of existing forests has potential to greatly contribute to New Zealand reaching the goal of carbon neutrality.

Our farming exports are also under threat if the protection of 1080 is removed. Possums are the main “vector” by which tuberculosis spreads among cattle herds. Over the last decade of intensive possum control using 1080, bovine tuberculosis rates have fallen by more than 90% and New Zealand is on target to become Tb-free. If the Tb eradication programme were to stop, the cost to our export industries has been estimated at $5 billion over 10 years.

The fact that both Forest & Bird and Federated Farmers have jointly endorsed the benefits of 1080 shows that this is more than just an environmental issue. But for us, the threat to our wildlife and forests is the key concern. If we want to avoid some of our most special native species like the kiwi, the kakariki and the blue duck joining the ranks of the huia, the moa and too many others that have already become extinct, we must reject the scare-mongering over 1080 and look to the scientific evidence that shows that continued use of 1080 offers the best chance of survival our unique New Zealand species have.

ENDS

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