Coromandel Residents Reject 1080 Drop

Colville, 3rd May 2013 - A meeting of 50 north Coromandel residents in Colville Hall on the 3rd May, voted overwhelmingly to declare their opposition to a planned aerial 1080 drop over Moehau mountain.

The meeting also voted to support local iwi and the Te Arawa Lakes Trust Board in their efforts to stop the 1080 drop. Another resolution thanked the Colville- Coromandel Community Board members for taking a position against aerial 1080 drops in favour of ground-based pest control.

The Department of Conservation is planning to spread 1080 toxin over 14,707 hectares of Moehau, Papakai and Manaia forests in an aerial operation this winter. At a rate of 1kg – 3kg of poison per hectare, that means anything from 14,000 kg to 44,000 kg of 1080 toxin will be dispersed over Coromandel watersheds and water supplies.

Many north Coromandel farmers, business people and householders are very concerned about contamination of their stock and domestic water supplies. The indiscriminate nature of aerial dropping of poison may result in the death of many non-targeted species, including birds. There are also concerns about risks to the endangered Archey’s Frog whose population numbers have plummeted to critical levels in recent years.

The Te Arawa Lakes Trust Board, who own a 60 hectare area on the summit of Moehau, has written to the Minister of Conservation asking that the 1080 drop be stopped. Tamatekapua, the navigator on the Te Arawa waka, was buried on Moehau mountain. Numerous local iwi have also expressed their opposition to the aerial 1080 drop.

DoC’s own consultation guidelines state that they ‘ will be prepared to take new ideas on board’ and ‘respect the diverse range of interests and opinions’, and ‘will encourage input from the public, tangata whenua and staff’.

“The Department is urged to conduct further consultation with the community in the hope that this issue could be resolved. The efforts of those who have worked so hard on the ground over many years to control the possum problem shows that a different approach is viable. After all, the common ground is that we are all passionate about the health of our precious forests,” said Stephanie McKee, an organiser of the Colville meeting.

ENDS

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