FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
14 AUGUST 2017

Call for DOC To Postpone Coromandel 1080 Drops

A Coromandel conservation group has formally requested temporary postponement of DOC aerial pest control operations scheduled for next month on the peninsula.

In a letter to DOC Director-General Lou Sanson today, the Upper Coromandel Landcare Association (UCLA) urgently requested a 12-month delay of 1080 pest control plans for both Moehau maunga and the Papakai Ecological Area outside Coromandel Town.

UCLA cited widespread community concerns about contamination of public and private drinking water supplies, adverse impacts on fragile local populations of endangered native species, risks of low-level toxin exposure to human health, losses to organic growers, entry of toxin into the local food chain, and animal cruelty. The group also cited iwi and hapu concerns over wairua and mauri, as well as impacts on Maori cultural practices, health and wellbeing.

In its request to the director-general, UCLA noted that official monitoring data of possums by the Department of Conservation in both locations within the past year (released by request under the Official Information Act) indicate relatively low pest numbers at both Moehau and Papakai and fail to justify immediate control operations. Where possum numbers are of concern, these are localised and relatively easy to target. DOC was unable to supply any current monitoring data at all regarding pest rat numbers.

According to figures released to UCLA by DOC pursuant to the OIA, the helicopter pest control works planned for September are estimated to cost in excess of one-half million dollars.

The call for postponement was accompanied by a further request that the DOC Hauraki Area Office engage with interested community, council, and iwi representatives to identify and agree upon alternative pest control methods for Moehau and Papakai acceptable to all.

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