Shane Cowlishaw of the Southland Times writes about the reception of a proposal to drop 1080 poison bait into the Waitutu Forest.
In response to the Department of Conservation’s proposal, thus far 50 submissions have opposed it, 4 have supported it, and 4 have remained neutral. Forest and Bird Southland and the Southland Conservation Board are two of the organisations which support the proposal.
An excerpt: (read in full here)
“The Department of Conservation has lodged a resource consent application with Environment Southland to drop cereal bait over 25,000 hectares of forest.
…
“Forest and Bird said the Waitutu Forest was deteriorating because of pests. Fewer possums would also mean better carbon sequestration in the forest, it says.
“The conservation board agreed to give its support at a meeting last month, deciding an aerial drop was the most effective form of pest control in the area.
“Environment Southland chairman Stuart Collie said a decision on the consent would be based on facts and science, not numbers.”