Saving Our Seas, Restoring Our Forests

Forest and Bird, Issue 303, 1 February 2002, Page 2

Saving Our Seas, Restoring Our Forests

DR

NATIONAL PRESIDENT

GERRY MCSWEENEY

quiet revolution is sweeping through New Zealand, helping to bring fish and marine life back to our coastlines, and birds and regeneration to our native forests. Forest and Bird wants at least 20 percent of New Zealand’s coastline set aside as notake marine reserves. Because these areas will be breeding areas and nurseries, there will be enormous practical benefits for marine life in all our oceans. Marine reserves will also help all New Zealanders to re-discover waters filled with fish, paua and rock lobster, something only older people remember from their childhood. Our nation is surrounded by ocean. We have the fifth largest exclusive economic zone in the world. This is 14 times New Zealand’s land area. Yet for many of us our delight in discovering the wonders of the ocean and its sea creatures has been sacrificed to allow unrestricted access for a fishing industry whose fish stocks are mostly in decline. In 2002, Forest and Bird is leading a campaign to create a network of no-take marine reserves throughout the country. Politicians are scheduled to pass laws this year to make the task of marine reserve creation much easier. Our mission is to give support to the creation of new marine reserves. Many of

these reserves have already received overwhelming support in public submissions. They simply await political decision. Examples include marine reserves at Kaikoura, Island Bay in Wellington, in Nelson near Cable Bay, and at Te Matuku, Waiheke Island.

A network of new marine reserves would also be a fitting tribute to Sir Peter Blake. As an ocean adventurer he witnessed first-hand the plight of world fisheries and pollution of the ocean. His resolve to campaign for the environment grew from that awareness. Our challenge is to make our 2002 Marine Reserve Campaign a stunning success. The second revolution sweeping New Zealand is just as important — the elimination of such pests as possums, goats, deer, stoats, rats and feral cats from our forests. We want to restore these forests to their former glory, filled with mistletoe, fuchsia, five-finger, rata and kohekohe, and ultimately we want to be deafened by the dawn chorus of birds. Twenty years ago it was accepted that once rats invaded an island they could not be removed. Talon (Brodifacoum) changed all that. This anti-coagulant poison applied in a systematic programme has been shown to eliminate every mouse and rat from offshore islands. First it was used successfully on small islands in the Bay of Plenty, then on progressively larger islands. Each success has led to a more ambitious target. During the winter of 2001, rats and mice on the 11,300 hectares of Campbell Island in the subantarctic were poisoned, and there are signs this has been successful too. Ultimately it is not unrealistic to see

such a programme on Great Barrier, an island of 28,000 hectares in the Hauraki Gulf. Already free of stoats, weasels and possums, the removal of rats and mice from Great Barrier and an accord amongst all residents to make the island cat-free could create one of the world’s greatest wildlife sanctuaries. Further, the establishment of ‘mainland island’ sanctuaries shows that it is also possible to eliminate pests and restore wildlife to their former glory throughout New Zealand. Unfortunately maintenance of these sanctuaries is very expensive and they cover only a fraction of our mainland conservation lands. Much more extensive areas of conservation land are the focus of pest control through ongoing poison operations, primarily using sodium fluoracetate, 1080. Of the eight million hectares of New Zealand managed by DoC, possum control programmes are currently sustained over one million hectares of the most susceptible ecosystems. About 70 percent of this control is through aerial 1080-poison operations, used because of its effectiveness and safety. During 2000-2001, DoC spent $25.5 million on pest control on the land it manages. It is essential that we maintain these programmes. The results can be striking. Recently I visited the Leonard Cockayne Nature Walk in Arthur’s Pass National Park. This area was heavily poisoned with 1080 in March 2001. Every rata tree now has shoots emerging from its base (normally eaten by possums) and giant fuchsia trees were healthy and in full flower. Flocks of New Zealand pigeon, tui, bellbird, tomtit, brown creeper and fantail filled every tree. A New Zealand falcon landed two metres above our heads and sat fearlessly for photos while the chatter of yellow-crowned parakeets and a lone kaka could be heard high overhead. We live in an extraordinary natural land. Our challenge now is to work together to retain and restore the best of New Zealand’s marine and forest environments.

Forest and Bird wants at least 20 percent of New Zealand's coastline set aside as no-take marine reserves.