TVNZ news

National's new conservation Minister says she" absolutely " supports the use of the controversial 1080 poison used to kill the predators of native birds.

Maggie Barry told TVNZ's Q and a programme the use of the poison was "essential" in areas such as Beech Mast and the Hunua Ranges.

The New Zealand Herald

Trout taken from catchments where 1080 poison has been dumped are safe to eat, the Ministry for Primary Industries says.

It says a preliminary food safety study it conducted using data collected by researchers in Nelson "strongly indicates that consumption of wild trout caught from areas that have had 1080 applied will not pose a food safety risk to humans".

Manukau Courier

Auckland Council has approved the aerial use of 1080 in the Hunua Ranges.

The drops will begin in mid-2015 and will cover 1100 hectares, 6.5 per cent of the Ranges.

Helicopters will drop 5kg of pellets per hectare which contain a total of 7.5 g of 1080.Councillors Cathy Casey and Mike Lee voted against the decision.The main reasons cited for the drops were to protect native birds such as kokako from stoats, rats and possums.

By Laura Mills, Greymouth Star

A planned 1080 drop in South Westland has been called off as there are not enough rats.

The Battle for our Birds -- to combat a pest plague triggered by a beech forest fruiting -- involves the largest ever pest control programme over a million hectares of conservation estate, including swathes of the West Coast.

The Press

Anglers are being warned to avoid eating fish caught in back country waters as they could be tainted by 1080 poison.

The Department of Conservation plans to aerially drop 1080 poison across 700,000 hectares of conservation land, mostly in the South Island, to reduce rodent numbers.

The New Zealand Herald

Ban on poison would be disastrous for native birds, leaving only cost-prohibitive methods, warns DoC expert

DoC says more Kea would be killed by predators than through eating poison bait.

A senior Department of Conservation scientist says a ban on 1080 poison would be catastrophic for some native birds. Dr Graeme Elliott, who is co-ordinating fieldwork for the department's aerial blitz using bait containing 1080, said the poison was the only way to control predators such as rats and stoats on a large scale.

The Marlborough Express


An increase in rat numbers has prompted the Department of Conservation (DOC) to push ahead with planned 1080 operations in the South Island.

Conservation Minister Nick Smith announced in January that DOC would aerially drop 1080 poison across 700,000 hectares of conservation land, mainly in the South Island, to curb rat and stoat numbers.

The use of the predator killing 1080 in New Zealand forests continues to be a highly emotive debate.

The Parliamentary Commissioner for the environment, Jan Wright, spoke in Nelson recently about her views of the toxin.

After research, Wright concluded the use of 1080 should continue. Wright spoke in Nelson at the invitation of the Nelson Science Society on her report ‘Evaluating the use of 1080: Predators, poisons and silent forest’.

She took two minutes to speak with the Leader to talk about 1080 and why she supports it.

OPINION: was there a sign in the last week that one of 1080's biggest battles had been won?

After Conservation minister Nick Smith rubber stamped plans for one of the biggest blanket drops of the poison last Friday, the silence was deafening.

More 1080 poison will drop from the sky this year to stop a plague plague of "Biblical proportions", but anti-poison activists say it is unnecessary as seed is already rotting on the ground.

Conservation Minister Nick Smith was in Maruia yesterday to confirm his 'Battle for our Birds' mass poison campaign would be going ahead.