Shifting the balance

Forest and Bird, Volume 21, Issue 3, 1 August 1990, Page 30

Shifting the balance

By Forest and Bird Northern Conservation Officer Fiona Edwards ART TIME professional possum trapper Bryan Innes is not your usual bushman. Equally at home waxing poetic about human's relationship to nature as following a trapline in the forest, he is a man with a mission — to rid native forests of destructive possums, and at the same time provide employment for the people of the north. "We must learn to live with the possum -- it is here to stay. We are the possum’s only predator and as such we must ensure the balance which will enable our native bush to survive in something approaching its present form," Whangarei-based Bryan says. The scope of the possum problem in the north is staggering. New Zealandwide there are estimated to be 70 million possums. In Northland alone the population is put at around 20 million, with one of our best known forests, Waipoua — home to giant kauri such as Tane Mahuta and Te Matua Ngahere — containing an estimated 300,000 possums.

Department of Conservation’s John Beechman suggests there are between 5 and 10 possums per hectare. Despite this low density, because of possums’ selective eating habits the damage is dramatic. Bryan Innes puts it this way: "Possums target their preferred or ‘ice cream’ species for the season such as rata or kohekohe. Like sheep which pre-

fer sweet new grass, possums prefer new growth. After being browsed, a healthy tree will push out new growth in order to survive. This new growth attracts all the possums in the surrounding area and is heavily browsed by them. "The result is that the poor tree has all its new growth for the entire season eaten as it is produced. The average life of the leaves on a tree is one to two

years. After two years of being subjected to intensive possum browsing, the tree’s old leaves fall and the tree dies. From there the possums will move onto a neighbouring healthy tree. They work their way through an individual species, then move on to less palatable species until the forest is progressively destroyed," explains Bryan. In his eyes, possums destroy more than just forest; they also do away with people's livelihoods. Bryan estimates that Northland’s forests could attract tens of thousands of international hunting tourists a year. The attractions include pigs, goats, ducks and eels. Guided tramping and bird watching trips are other ventures which could be developed. The action plan that he and colleagues have developed is positive, practical and achievable. Together they have set up the New Zealand Conservancy Trust. Bryan is working on a voluntary basis to investigate forest products, establish guide cooperatives, "re-establish the place of professional hunters of goats, deer and possums, to involve people from town and countryside in shifting the balance with possums and goats more in favour of trees and birds." During two weeks in May about 30

trappers and volunteers gathered at Tangihua Forest in an attempt to significantly reduce the possum population. Each volunteer accompanied a trapper and helped to pre-feed with peanut butter along the possum line. The following day the trappers placed cyanide bait where pre-feed had been consumed. Dead possums were skinned or simply counted and any remaining cyanide baits were scrubbed, that is, smeared under foot into the wet ground where the moisture rendered them harmless. During the time that the group worked at Tangihua Forest, thousands of possums were eradicated. In fact before the two weeks was up new grass was already growing on the possum runs emerging on the the surrounding farmlands. The Trust wants to see teenage conservation clubs set up throughout the country, based in schools but whose activities would be primarily after school and during weekends. The young people would learn bush skills, forest ecology and how to eradicate weeds and pests from native forests. Club members would be taught a variety of humane trapping methods as well as safe rifle handling. Funds to purchase equipment would come from club membership fees, or

possibly corporate sponsors and the Lottery Board. Bryan believes Northland is an ideal location from which to launch the club, with an initial aim to control possums. In the medium term, while massive possum eradication programmes are put in place, the Trust is seeking international and domestic markets for a special possum product — leather. A trial of 200 skins have been tanned to produce a pliable, strong leather suitable for book binding or quality garments such as footwear. Samples of the leather will be flown to China to test consumer reaction. Other possum products such as meat and petfood are currently being investigated. The Chinese have a similar bearlike animal which they are accustomed to eating. Some people find the possum smell in possum petfood offensive but cooking and masking techniques can overcome this in the manufacturing process. Possum petfood is rated highly; it gives Bryan's dogs lustrous coats and makes them thrive, he contends. If you would like to know more about the NZ Conservancy Trust, write to Bryan Innes, PO Box 279, Whangarei, or phone (089) 482-196. g&