After 78 years, Forest and Bird is still about the same principles.

Forest and Bird, Issue 300, 1 May 2001, Page 2

After 78 years, Forest and Bird is still about the same principles.

his is the 300th edition of Forest & Bird. By any yardstick, that’s a notable feat. Forest & Bird is one of the oldest continuous publications in New Zealand. After 78 years the magazine is still here and still going strong. Well done. On behalf of three generations of members, I want to place on record their grateful appreciation to the editors and contributors who have made Forest e& Bird what it is today. Our magazine is recognised around the world as a leading natureconservation publication covering a wide range of topical science and environmental issues. Long may it reign. The Society’s raison d’etre was set out in 1923 by our founder, Captain Val Sanderson, and his small band of fellow conservationists. They composed a deceptively simple statement of intent — to preserve and protect the indigenous plants and animals of New Zealand. Seventy-eight years on, the Society continues its pursuit of this principal constitutional object. Such longevity speaks volumes for the wisdom and foresight of our founding members, and the value of clearly stated goals.

Over the years as your President, the most frequent enquiries I receive concern the Society’s objectives and its tenacious defence of New Zealand’s environment. We know the answers, but it’s no bad thing to occasionally visit them afresh for what the jargon inelegantly calls, a ‘reality check’. First and foremost must surely be the moral imperative. Humans are one of millions of species living on planet Earth. Numerically, we’re well down the list —

there are more bacteria in your mouth than there are humans on the planet. By impact, we're unsurpassed. Humans have developed awesome powers. We can destroy species and have done so with apparent impunity. Many of the planet’s life forms are extinct because of our actions. Species exinction and planet Earth are not strangers. But the dinosaurs were not driven to extinction by another species. That humans have the power to destroy is undeniable, but in general terms such power should be exercised only in exceptional circumstances, such as eradication of alien invaders that threaten local ecosystems. Secondly, there is a patriotic imperative. Of the organisations in New Zealand (and there are a lot), is it fanciful to suggest that the Royal Forest and Bird Protection Society ranks high in the patriotic stakes. We focus on the indigenous; the kiwi and keruru, the rimu and red moki, the pohutukawa and yellow-eyed penguin. We strive to protect and preserve plants, animals and ecosystems that are uniquely New Zealand. We hold this as a special duty because much of our biota is not known elsewhere. Of course, we are not alone in this. There are many groups and individuals working for the same goal. It seems to me there can be few higher patriotic callings than protecting and preserving in as natural a state as possible our little bit of planet Earth.

‘,.destroying our biodiversity can be likened to living in a house devoid of those things that make a house a home. No art, no music, no ornaments, no garden, no flowers...’

Thirdly, there is enlightened self-interest. In the words of Edward Wilson, one of the master intellects of conservation in this age: ‘Only in the last moment of human history has the delusion arisen that people can flourish apart from the rest of the living world. Does humanity really believe it can go it alone? How strange. Every now and then we need to give ourselves a metaphorical kick in the

backside. Planet Earth is the only storehouse. There is only so much biological capital. Does it not strike you as odd that the economic gnomes who talk about economic stability, and not eroding the capital and all that stuff, don’t visit the same strictures on the use of our biological capital? Aside from the biological resources we use now, New Zealand’s biodiversity represents a pool of untapped resources. The new sponge discovered off the Kaikoura coast, that produces a cancer-fighting substance, is but one example. Fourthly, there is enjoyment. The sheer abundance and scope of New Zealand’s biodiversity is a wonder in itself. For me, little surpasses the enjoyment of sitting in a forest and listening to our very special birds. Human art is a wonder as well, no doubt about that. But nothing I have heard in my lifetime has come close to the haunting melody of a kokako or a flock of bellbirds. On that note, can I say with unabashed sentimentality, I to belong to a school of thought that believes birds sing, in part, because they enjoy singing. Reduced to a_ simplistic analogy, destroying our biodiversity can be likened to living in a house devoid of those things that make a house a home. No art, no music, no ornaments, no garden, no flowers, not even any wallpaper, just a box. How drab. And how long before we realize how much we cherished those things and miss them desperately? Finally, there is altruism — the doctrine that holds the general welfare of society as a

whole is the proper goal of an individual's actions. The principles of Forest and Bird support that.

KEITH CHAPPLE aso, is national president of Forest and Bird.