Hundreds protest at aerial poison drops

Hundreds of protesters gathered across the nation yesterday to oppose aerial drops of 1080 poison.

Rallies were held in 17 locations calling for conservation and animal health officials to stop aerial drops of 1080 to eradicate pests.

The protesters say aerial drops should be abolished and replaced with sustainable alternative pest eradication and trapping programmes.

This is despite the 2007 decision by the Environmental Risk Management Authority to allow the continued aerial use of 1080 - sodium monofluoroacetate - because it is a "necessary evil", with no economic alternative for culling possums.

Rally organiser Thomas Grieve said one of the best turnouts was of about 400 on Waiheke Island in the Hauraki Gulf.

He said there were also reports of a strong turnout in Hamilton, where protesters included the Graf brothers, who made a documentary about the topic.

Fewer people turned out in Auckland. About 60 people, a significant number of whom were of east Asian descent, were seen at the beginning of the march heading up Queen St carrying a big banner saying "Stop aerial drops, it kills more than pests".

Mr Grieve said numbers got up to about 300 at the end of the rally at Albert Park, but it was still a little disappointing.

He was not sure how many attended in Wellington or the smaller centres, a number of which were on the West Coast of the South Island.

Organised by Poison Free New Zealand, the rallies were promoted with a protest song Enuf is Enuf.

Mr Grieve said the protesters were not against 1080 poison itself but rather the aerial dropping of it.

It could affect creatures other than those it was intended for, whereas bait stations and ground-based poisoning were much more effective.

"It's against World Health Organisation guidelines and it's not appropriate," he said.

"The Department of Conservation says they only go aerially to areas that are hard to get to, but they've just done a drop on Motutapu Island [next to Rangitoto in the Waitemata Harbour] and that's 97 per cent pasture."

New Zealand uses about two tonnes of 1080 poison annually, 80 per cent of world production.

- NZPA