KEY POINTS:
Do the All Blacks care about rugby?
Does the Pope celebrate Christmas?
Do dairy farmers keep an eye on milk prices? Does the Conservation Department want to get rid of pests from Rangitoto and Motutapu?
No, says Brian Rudman (December 17). The Conservation Department is totally unenthusiastic about that prospect. It is apparently desperate to maintain rats, mice, cats, hedgehogs, stoats and rabbits on these precious Hauraki Gulf Marine Park islands. Who would want to see our native plants and birds return for people enjoy? Not the Department of Conservation, says Mr Rudman.
Herald readers may well have spotted something odd.
If it was mining or an exclusive resort that was proposed, the department's reluctance would be believable. But pest control?
What they were not told was that in order to bomb the critters next June, we would have to compensate the farmer who has a legal grazing licence on Motutapu. The fair and reasonable cost of taking the stock off while the pest control took place would be around $1 million.
That $1 million would have to come from stopping other pest control work. Since most of that work is relatively small amounts here and there, it would mean stopping about 70 existing pest control projects (many of those are partnerships with community trusts and regional councils). Why not give taxpayers better value for their conservation dollars by maintaining those projects and doing Motutapu when the grazing licence expires in 2010? Yes, the wait is frustrating, but the pests have been there for many years.
But even if we did get a million-dollar windfall, there is another issue to consider.
The reason Mr Rudman can call on the department to get a wriggle on is precisely because we are so successful at this work. That is recognised internationally and our science and technology is used all over the world.
Island pest eradications are extremely complex operations and the risk of failure, if you don't do your homework, is high and an expensive waste. Just ask anyone who has tried to get rid of all pests, including mice.
The challenge of a pest-free Rangitoto and Motutapu is bigger and more complex than anything we have so far undertaken.
The research, technical solutions and planning that underpins a successful operation is critical. To bomb the critters next June would require us to cut corners. We have said we will have done all we can as thoroughly as we can in time to start that within three years (it took five years to plan the Little Barrier Island pest eradication).
The Conservation Department is just as enthusiastic about this project as Mr Rudman and the conservation groups, concessionaires and iwi who are all part of it. But enthusiasm alone is not enough. We must take the time to get this project right the first time. Failure would not just be disappointing, it would be expensive.
Nevertheless, the Conservation Department is enthusiastic about the Hauraki Gulf Marine Park and is delivering. This year, we worked with community groups to release the rare Taranaki kokako on to Tiritiri Matangi , the diving petrel to Motuora (which was the first time seabirds have been translocated within the Hauraki Gulf) and install solar power systems on Tiritiri Matangi and Hauturu (Little Barrier). Last June, we declared Hauturu rat-free and 100 tuatara have been released. The Motu Kaikoura Trust has begun the removal of pests from Kaikoura Island (purchased in 2004) with support from the department and planning is under way to get rid of rats and mice. We have made major investments in visitor facilities on Great Barrier Island, upgrading tracks and campsites.
And watch this space for another initiative early in the new year.
* Al Morrison is director-general of the Department of Conservation.
