Until utopia arrives

A109 Light Utility Helicopter flight with mayor Gisborne City from the air in November 2023.

Opinion

Thank you Heather Marion Smith for your reply of August 18. The lesson in economics is duly noted but until that utopia of plentiful money for pest control arrives, aerial 1080 is the best method available for large-scale ecological restoration of native flora and fauna.

Perhaps you can explain the “better methods . . . for pest control”. In particular, the time and effort required and the cost in today’s dollars compared with an aerial 1080 operation which can cover 10s of 1000s of hectares and kill almost 100 percent of the target pests in that area.

It would be wonderful if 1080 and other poisons didn’t need to be used but a well-timed aerial 1080 drop has huge benefits for the breeding success of our native plants, birds and other creatures.

Science and evidence on the ground has shown this over and over again in many areas. Check out the breeding success of rock wren in Kaurangi National Park before and after aerial 1080 operations.

Re: Better methods than 1080, August 21 letter and comments.

What is the sound of death? I’d say it has something to do with the 25 million native birds killed every year by predators such as possums, rats and stoats.

You’d be quite safe drinking from a stream after an aerial 1080 operation, because while some baits will obviously fall into waterways, 1080 dilutes quite rapidly in water as well as breaking down into non-toxic by-products.

Why would anyone take a dog into an area (which would be advertised and signposted) where there would be 1080 pellets, knowing that 1080 is deadly to dogs? I can agree with part of your last sentence Laura; education is key.

John Kelly, yes some birds can die from 1080 but current methods and cereal baits that are unattractive to birds means that this is a very rare occurrence. If anyone finds dead birds in the bush after a 1080 drop, they should take them in to be tested.

The real test result, though, is seeing the increase in bird numbers after the pests have been dealt with. This is not anecdotal.

Grant Vincent, Forest & Bird Gisborne branch chairman