FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: TUESDAY, DECEMBER 1, 2009
 
 
Coromandel Votes 1080 Ban:
Hunting-Trapping Policy Advanced
 
The iconic northern Coromandel Peninsula could become the country’s first official hunting and trapping-only region for animal pest control, following a meeting of the Coromandel/Colville Community Board today.
 
In response to a proposal put forward by two Coromandel area environmental groups, the community board voted unanimously to advocate for pest control only by hunting, trapping and non-residual poisons in their ward.
 
If adopted by regional council and the Department of Conservation, the policy change would mean an end in the northern peninsula to the increasingly controversial use of supertoxin 1080 and other toxins for possum and rat control that cause secondary poisoning and that accumulate in the food chain.  
 
Upper Coromandel Landcare Association spokesperson Reihana Robinson said the Coromandel board’s decision, although non-binding, was a “huge first step toward safe and sensible pest control on the peninsula” and was “broadly reflective of public opinion.”
 
“Coromandel wants an end to reckless poisoning that disrupts fragile ecosystems, taints public drinking water, slaughters hundreds of non-target species, kills pets, and threatens tourism jobs,” Robinson said.  
 
“Our community board has listened and will now carry that message to the authorities that have been forcing poisons on our communities,” she said.  “There’s no place on the Coromandel that can’t be trapped. It’s a win-win solution for the bush and for residents -- safe, effective, and inexpensive.”
 
The local decision will be referred to the full Thames Coromandel District Council, which is to consider later this month whether to advocate a similar district-wide policy of hunting and trapping for animal pests.
 
 
CONTACT: Reihana Robinson, UCLA/(07) 866-6620/<reihana.robinson@xtra.co.nz>