Open
letter to Members of the N Z Parliament
The
Department of Conservation has announced an intention to spread the
manufactured poison 1080 over Te Moengahau o Tametekapua and
surrounding forests of Te Whai o te Ika, the Coromandel Peninsula,
during July to October 2017 (Hauraki Herald, 28 April).
DoC
does not have the social licence to carry out this operation.
According to their own research, an increasing majority of New
Zealanders find “aerial poisoning unacceptable”. 1
Many
in our community challenge the poisoning of Coromandel forests. Many
local hapu and local marae, landowners and local community groups,
have not been consulted and have not been offered options for
control. 2. Trapping is the community's preferred method.3. Trapping
complies with the statutes. 4.
Maori
have a right to the guardianship of their taonga under the Treaty of
the Waitangi Act 1975, Schedule 1. Local people have a right to safe
food and water. Local people seek employment as trappers engaged to
maintain biodiversity, as harvesters of possum fur and meat for local
industry, as kaitiaki replanting berry-bearing trees and food
forests.
Bee
keepers, practitioners of rongoa maori and herbal medicine, possum
fur and meat trappers, pig hunters and sight-seers cannot use
poisoned forests.
Aerial
1080 kills randomly and inhumanely. How many ruru, karearea, kahu,
and tuna will weaken from eating poisoned carcasses? How many native
frogs will die from absorbing 1080 pollution? How many streams will
carry poisoned baits and poisoned carcasses into water supplies? Does
the 1080 dust affect the health of the forest biota? DoC does not
know the answers to these questions.
Where
there is scientific uncertainty, caution must be exercised under the
Hazardous Substances and New Organisms Act 1996, s7 . We think that
caution is being ignored by DoC when 1080 is dispersed aerially over
forest ecosystems.
The
sentience of animals is recognised by the Animal Welfare Act 1999,
but has been denied to animals classed as "pests". Hunters
and farmers have witnessed the prolonged suffering of poisoned
animals.
These
are the reasons we, the undersigned, call for a halt to the proposed
1080 drops over Coromandel forests this winter.
Footnotes:
1.
IPSOS, Survey of New Zealanders prepared for the Department of
Conservation June 2016, p 81-82.
2.
The Communications Guidelines for Aerial 1080 Operations (2009) state
that consultation will include options for control (para 2.1).
Coromandel communities were not given any options in 2013 and again
in 2017.
3.
IPSOS. 90% of NZers support trapping, 89% support hunting as a means
of pest control.
4.
Aerial poisoning cannot avoid harm to native species. The fundamental
purpose of the Resource Management Act 5c requires “avoiding,
remedying or mitigating any adverse effects of activities on the
environment.”
Dr
Koro Ngapo,
Te Mata Punenga, Te Panekiretanga o te reo Maori, Te Whare Tahuhu
Korero o Hauraki, Te Paea Marae ki Harataunga, Nga Uri A Maata Ngapo
Charitable Trust. Sam
Mclean, Kaumatua,
Ngati Tamatera hapu, Te Paea marae Harataunga, Hauraki. Pine
Ngapo, Kaumatua, Ngati Tamatera hapu Te Paea marae Harataunga
(Kennedy bay), Hauraki. Victor
McLean, mangai, Ngati Tamatera hapu Te Matewaru, Ngati Pare,
Harataunga/ Kuaotunu/ Hauraki. Wanda Brljevich, vice chair, Ngati
Huarere ki Whangapoua Trust. Sandra Watson, kaumatua, Ngati Huarere
ki Moehau, Paratu Bay. Marcus James, Ngati
Kautawhiti of Little Bay, Tainui/Maniapoto confederation. We also
whakapapa to Arawa waka navigator, Tame te Kapua, buried on Moehau.
David Broatch, director, Environmental Futures Research (est.1975),
Coromandel. Phil Nielsen, trustee, Kuaotunu Environmental Action
Group (KEA). John Veysey, Waiau Hawk and Morepork Sanctuary. Wendy
Pond, secretary, Manu Waiata Restoration & Protection Society.
Steve Nicholas, president, Coromandel Pig Hunting Club. John Allan,
president, Whitianga Pig Hunting Club. Todd Hewitt, secretary,
Peninsula Pig Hunting Club. B Woods, survey assistant, Coromandel.
Kyle Lawton, trapper, Manaia. J Davey, retired teacher, Coromandel.
Corinne Jaegle, cancer patient, Coromandel. Dion Wilson, self
employed, Coromandel. Tara Holman, shop owner, Coromandel. Jayne
Lister, artisan, Coromandel. Yaning Foreman, mother, Coromandel.
Benni Bonnin, mother, artist, Coromandel. David Stemson, self
emplyed, Coromandel. Anton Bank, builder, Coromandel. Naomi Pond,
medical herbalist, Driving Creek. Muhl Bacher Thomas, retired,
Coromandel. Lorraine Abernethy, retired, Coromandel. Sarah Brooks,
spiritual programmer, Colville. Marijke Miller, cafe owner,
Coromandel. Jed Stones, retired, Coromandel, France. Carol Bridgers,
support worker, Coromandel. Sean Leach, unemployed owing to illness,
Driving Creek. Georgina Jahner, teacher, Coromandel. Kevin and Jill
Wilkie, landowners, Kereta. Anna Galvin, budget advisor, Coromandel.
Adel Hewitt, fulltime worker, Coromandel. Diana Halstead, artist,
conservationist, Te Mata. Lynley Brown, retired, Coromandel. Jennifer
Greene, artist, Kennedy Bay, Coromandel. Tom Look, scientific
advisor, Kennedy Bay. Graeme Sturgeon, writer, Wyuna Bay. Julie
Sturgeon, business woman, Wyuna Bay. Earl Adams, Ngati Huarere ki
Whangapoua. Richard McMikin, landowner, Kuaotunu. Margaret Harrison,
landowner, Harataunga. Dan Mareroa, landowner, Harataunga. James
Webster, Apakura, artist, Coromandel. Toa Makapelu, Pautina,
Ngaitahu, Coromandel. Martin Smith, draughtsman, Kuaotunu. Stephanie
McKee, writer, Karuna Falls. Karla Allies, Ngati Pukenga ki Manaia,
Ngati Paoa. Reihana Robinson, he
whangai pehea Ngati Wai. Geoffrey
Robinson, farmer, Port Charles. Colin Jolly, windmill maker,
Coromandel. Peter Bacchus, retired agricultural consultant, Driving
Creek. Ursula Walsh, retired nurse, Coromandel. David Walsh, retired,
Coromandel. Jackie Carey, shop manager, Coromandel. Christine Te
Moananui, Coromandel. Stephanie Kendall, artist, Coromandel. Ann
McCall, receptionist, Coromandel. Stephen Nicholas, driver,
Coromandel. Nia Greulich, Caregiver, Port Charles. D Blake-Blackburn,
joiner, Coromandel. Jennifer Warde, grandmother, Coromandel. Colette
Waaka, business owner, Auckland. John Rees, retired, Auckland. Vivian
Selby, retired, Coromandel. Yvonne Hoffmann, retired, Coromandel.
Rochelle Still, landowner, Coromandel. Marie Stewart, resident,
Coromandel. David Foreman, resident, Coromandel. James Castle,
fruitpicker, Coromandel. Ide Grosselchmenn, fruitpicker, Coromandel.
Edward Rutter, carpenter (rgd), Papa Aroha. Kouka Boris, woofer,
Coromandel. John Watson, landowner, Mahakirau. Wendy Vause, baker, Te
Rerenga. Tony Calsaferri, artist, Coromandel. Michelle Shanks,
artist, Coromandel. Gill Bacchus, orchardist, Coromandel. Sally
Tennent-Brown, artist, Driving Creek. Sabine Siezen, gardener,
Manaia. Simon Stigen, finance manager, Manaia. Pat Whiting-OKeefe,
farmer, Port Charles. Eden Mclean, Ngati Tamatera hapu Harataunga.
Adam Mclean, Ngati Tamatera hapu, Te Paea marae Harataunga, Hauraki.
Jason Mclean, Ngati Tamatera hapu Te Paea marae Harataunga, Hauraki.
Dorothy Mclean, Ngati Tamatera Harataunga. Mere
Ngapo, Ngati Tamatera Marae Harataunga. Hakopa Ngapo,
Ngati
Tamatera hapu Te Paea marae Harataunga, Hauraki. Ripeka Ngapo, Ngati
Tamatera Harataunga. Te Aroha Ngapo, Ngati tamatera Harataunga.
George
Edinburgh Davis,
Ngati Paoa / Ngati Toa, Whitianga. Tawhi Wikaera, Ngati Pukenga,
Manaia. Linda Williamsl, Ngati Tamatera, Paeroa. Judy Allen Schults,
Ngati Porou ki Harataunga. Wayne Dickson, Ngati Porou ki Mahia, Wyuna
Bay. Roberta Williams, Ngati Maru, Pukenga, Huarere ki Waiau. Kane
Harris, builder, Rings Beach. Craig Swindlehurst, builder, Whitianga.
Mac O'Connor, builder, Whitianga. Matt Hoar, builder, Whitianga.
Galvin Newton, truck driver, Whangapoua. Michael Davis, Painter,
decorator, Whitianga. Ben Davis, processor, Whitianga. Liana
Johnston, bar manager, Rings Beach. Andrew Williams, bee keeper, The
309. Michelle Harper, publican, Coroglen. Carma Gilcken, duty
manager, Whitianga. Aaron White, landscaper, Whitianga. Duane Temanu,
butcher, Whitianga. Pedro Olsen, painter, Whangamata. Cedric Walker,
Whitianga. Frank Dyer, builder, Whitianga. Luke Findlay, builder,
Whitianga. Sonia Aris, Whitianga. Ellen Jackson, teacher, Whitianga.
Johnny Monvad, earthmover, Whitianga. Dianne Nathan, secretary,
Kuaotunu. Leith Dick, plumber, Whitianga. Dan Ray, builder,
Whitianga. Malia Peers, mother, Whitianga. Katrina Mair, bakery,
Whitianga. Mike Reihana, Carters, Whitianga. Ross Johnson, carters,
Whitianga. Shane Cox, carters, Whenuakite. Anne Gage-Reihana,
Carters, Whitianga. Dellas Mair, Nanny, Whitianga. Roi Taimana,
landscaper, Kuaotunu. Shane Martin, builder, Matarangi. Travis Boyd,
arborist, Whitianga. Mike Nash, lawn mowing contractor, Whitianga.
Amanda Scobie, Ngaitai ki Tamaki. Adele Thompson, barista, Whitianga.
Grant Scobie, consultant Opus, Whitianga. Kylie Smith, farmer,
homemaker, Whitianga. Donald Scobie, co manager, Whitianga. Jessica
Lockhart, farmer, Coroglen. Damon MacDonald, Coroglen. Jordan
Johnson,Whitianga. Shaydon Richards, Coroglen. Josh Colville,
Coroglen. Mason Colville, Coroglen. Scott Barrington, Whitianga.
Colin Harris, Whitianga. Kelly Balsom, Ngati Hikario, Ngati Apakura,
Whitianga. Kerry Balsom, Whitianga. Sydney Novis, Port Charles. Riley
Novis, Port Charles. Adam Novis, Port Charles. Wayne Olsen,
Whenuakite. Maxine Olsen, Whenuakite. Paul Howell, Tapu. Stanley
Hazelton, fisherman, Whitianga. Penelope Holland, Whitianga. L D
Monrad, Whitianga. B McNeil, Coromandel. C Hiller, Coromandel. Nev
Lee, Coromandel. D Wilson, Whitianga. D Balsom, Whitianga. R Balsom,
Whitianga. C McCauley, Whitianga..... and many petitioners whose
names are still to be added.
E
te Kawanatanga! Areare mai nga taringa ki taku take nei. E whakamutu
ake te tuku paitini ki taku whenua e! You,
the government, open your ears and listen to what I have got to say!
Stop pushing poisons on my land!
Thames Coromandel District Council 2009, Agrees
to advocate to the Minister Conservation that where possible animal
pest control in the Thames-Coromandel District be undertaken by
trapping, hunting and non-residual poisons.
Public meeting in the Colville Hall, 2013, We,
the local residents of north Coromandel Peninsula, who love the
mountain, agree and declare that we oppose the aerial dispersal of
1080 toxin over Te Moehau.
Whakapuakitanga o
Te Aroha, Te Aroha Declaration, 2014, E
whakapuaki ana matou kei nga hapori te mana ki te whai kararehe, ki
te kohi rongoa me nga tipu kore-paihana. We declare the right for
communities/ iwi to hunt safe game and to gather safe plants.
Coromandel
Colville Community Board 2007, 2009, 2013, 2017, Reiterates
its opposition to the use of 1080 in the Coromandel-Colville Ward and
its support for alternative methods of pest eradication, eg.,
hunting, trapping and cyanide.