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Parliamentary Report Recommending 1080 Welcomed by Trust

The Pest Control Education Trust (PCET) today welcomed the Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment’s report on 1080 describing the independent evaluation as “thorough and conclusive” and expressed a hope that people would now accept that biodegradable 1080 is a critical tool in controlling introduced pests in New Zealand.

The Pest Control Education Trust (PCET) was established by Federated Farmers and Forest & Bird to help educate people about the importance of controlling introduced animal pests that pose a threat to agriculture and conservation in New Zealand.

PCET Trustee and Victoria University Professor of Ecology and Assistant Vice-Chancellor (Research) Charles Daugherty said that issues like pest control would always require making difficult decisions and it was important they are backed by robust analyses like this Parliamentary Report and the comprehensive 2007 Environmental Risk Management Authority study.

“Unfortunately, effective solutions involve tough choices, particularly when we are dealing with a major, human-induced threat to our biodiversity and our economy. We have to choose between feeding native and often rare species to introduced pests – or killing the pests so that the native species can survive,” Professor Daugherty said.

PCET Trustee and Federated Farmers General Manager, Policy and Advocacy Mark Ross said the report would be helpful for the Trust.

“The Trust has a put a lot of work into helping educate the public on this issue and this report will help us in our mission. Hopefully the minority of the public who are still against the use of 1080 will now accept that it is a vital component in the pest control strategy to protect our treasured native flora and fauna and also the our $12 billion beef, dairy and deer industries,” Mr Ross said.

www.1080facts.co.nz

ENDS

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