What will Forest & Bird do if we run out of possums? Why; make some more of course!

What will the Royal New Zealand Forest & Bird "Destruction" Society Inc do when we run out of possum? It seems a funny question to ask, but it is a very important one. There is no doubt that possum numbers are seriously in decline as just a simple road kill count will show. This is due in part to pressure on them for their valuable fur; also, in the conservation lands, slow breeding possum take years to recover from the frequent poisonings by DoC and others.

Should this not be something that Forest & Bird would welcome? After all are they not campaigning to save our forests and birds from a plague of possums? They are a wealthy and powerful incorporated society whose main income stream from the public is generated by claiming to save the forests and birds. The real problem is, can an income stream be maintained if there is no threat to our forests and birds? It seems the Royal Forest and Bird "Destruction" Society thinks not and they are addressing that by inflating the threat, inflating possum numbers, and possum damage to plants and wildlife.

This was so brilliantly demonstrated recently by their advocate, Nicola Vallence, on a TV7 programme of 30/8/11. New Zealand has a special problem, claimed Nicola. "Here possum are not like they are in Australia. They have more babies in New Zealand, and that is why we have a special problem!" The claim is extraordinary as possum are a marsupial, able to carry only one joey in the pouch, they just cannot carry more babies. Even Forest & Bird web sites (http://www.kcc.org.nz/possums) claim there are over 30million possum – seven for every man woman and child. Do you see them out there?

Vegetarian possum are also alleged to kill and eat birds and destroy forests. It is a classic case of invoking a bogeyman, a manufactured threat that needs your donations, your corporate sponsorships and your bequests to save us!

The real evil of this venal and cynical campaign is how Forest & Bird advocate dealing with its possum paper dragon; by the use of aerial 1080. We know poisoning kills off the slow breeding birds like the kea to the point of local extinctions, we know that it kills off the forest floor insects essential to the health of the forest, we know that although it initially knocks rat populations, they "bounce back" to become rat plagues. Forest and Bird, by its advocacy, is the real threat to our unique forests and wildlife.

We can do something about it. Do not donate to Forest and Bird. Do not sponsor them, what is more, boycott their sponsors (and let them know why). Discourage bequests to Forest and Bird. It is only by bringing outfits like this to heel that we can break the 1080 cycle that is killing the land.

DoC's new take on Tom Lehrer's old song is "Poisoning Parrots in the Park"

Ex DoC scientist Colin Miskelly claims Project Kaka is to prove the efficacy of 1080 poison by dropping it at three yearly intervals across the Tararua Forest Park. It appears they have to do this because after nearly 50 years of 1080, they have so far failed to prove it works. Despite all the evidence to the contrary, he believes Project Kaka will both enhance "indigenous bio-diversity" and provide a "flight corridor" for kaka from Kapiti to Mt. Bruce. Given DoC’s dismal record with kaka at both sites, such as 20% of a radio tagged population of kaka poisoned at Kapiti and six known kaka deaths to poison at Mt. Bruce, kaka with any sense would stay away from both those places and the corridor between them!
The impact of Project Kaka on "indigenous bio-diversity" is even worse. The base of all ecosystems are the insects; 1080 was originally registered as an insecticide and DoC still has a registration for 1080 as an insecticide, so what is DoC doing about monitoring the insects in this toxic havoc it is inflicting on the forest? Well, despite a magnificent bit of convolute bureaucratise, nothing. They are not going to monitor forest floor insects at all.
Project Kaka will do three things. One is to ensure a continuation of the three year cyclic plague of rats, whose population explodes after forest poisonings. Secondly, it will also seriously reduce, possibly wipe out local populations of slower breeding native birds like kakariki and kaka. Perhaps most importantly, the third thing it will do is help maintain a healthy bottom line at Animal Control Products, a wholly government owned poison manufacturing facility in Wanganui. Pity about the parrots!

Launching a book - "The Third Wave - Poisoning the Land".

Launching was the last act of something that had been worrying me for a long time; New Zealand's extraordinary protection of its rare and endangered species, by poisoning them!  Yes, you got it, poisoning with one of the world's most deadly and cruel poisons, 1080!

As I go on, and learn to drive a blog spot, there will be pictures, and other information to help people fight this evil that New Zealands conservators put upon the land.