The protest movement against the use of 1080 poison to control exotic predators held a national day of action on Sunday. It gained little traction with media, but anti-1080 views are widely accepted by NZers and represent perhaps the biggest threat to the recovery of native bird populations as a result. When it comes to its impact on native birds, the science is in on 1080 - it is a useful tool for managing predator populations and overwhelmingly improves the odds of a bounce back in native bird life in breeding seasons immediately following 1080 applications.

The poison is not completely understood. It cannot and should not be used everywhere, and the understanding on this will continue to develop. The observable abundance of native birds in areas where pests are well-controlled by various methods, including 1080 poisoning, is in stark contrast to the vast tracts of pest-infested bush where there is barely a peep from the forest. Even a scientist who obviously has his doubts, like Dr Sean Weaver, senior lecturer at the Environmental Studies Programme at Victoria University, says “I think 1080 is an important tool in native wildlife management.” What worries Weaver is whether rigorous enough risk management and regulation is yet in place. He isn’t saying don’t use it.

Wildlife Ecology Professor Doug Armstrong, of Massey University says: “Most people seem to mistake the ongoing declines of native birds due to predation to effects of 1080. They are therefore largely anti-1080, but would probably not be if they understood that 1080 is used to control exotic mammals that have caused declines and extinctions of native birds. The frequency, intensity and method of 1080 application is clearly important” and it would be wrong to lump all 1080 operations together. “My impression is that the research is fairly limited given the importance of the issue. My only direct involvement has been re-analysis of robin nest success data for Pureora, and those data do show a substantial increase in nest success in years when rats were reduced to low levels.”

The website of a leading opponent of 1080 use , argues far from being a menace, possums in the NZ bush are an opportunity to create a new industry. It argues “perhaps we don’t have a possum problem in NZ at all. Perhaps we have a bureaucracy problem - a bureaucracy that feeds fear of the “possum”, into the minds of the public.”

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