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GREEN ISSUES |
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The fact that New Zealand is, at least by European standards,
apparently both clean and green is more by accident than design, a
result of its isolation and relatively short human history. And although
many New Zealanders are trying to preserve the country's environment,
their efforts are often hampered by a vacillating government and the
paramount interests of big business - wildlife has had to pay the price
for some short-sighted and flagrant profiteering.
Traditionally meat, wool and dairy products have been New Zealand's main
exports, but today a greater proportion is made up of forestry,
machinery, aluminium and chemicals, all of which take their toll on the
environment in terms of land usage, pollution and energy demands. Today
none of the animals or crops and few of the trees harvested are endemic
to New Zealand: the countryside is a confusion of native, European and
Australian birds, exotic and indigenous trees, and a profusion of plants
and animals from each hemisphere. Since human habitation began, forty-three
indigenous birds have been consigned to the ranks of the extinct, and
New Zealand now accounts for eleven percent of the world's endangered
bird species
Possums
During 1837-40 the first Australian brushtail opossums (Trichosurus
vulpecula, more commonly known as possums ) were introduced and
liberated in New Zealand by private individuals and Acclimatization
Societies wanting to establish a fur industry. Up until 1930 the spread
of these nocturnal marsupials was accelerated by further releases, both
authorized and illegal, of New Zealand-bred stock.
As early as the 1890s people were advocating control because the
potential for damage to orchards and gardens was becoming evident.
However, in 1920 a Professor of Botany and Zoology at the then Victoria
University College of Wellington released a report supporting the possum,
and stating that the harm to native forests was negligible. There
followed a series of ineffective regulations until 1947, when heavier
penalties for harbouring and liberating opossums were brought into
effect and all restrictions on the trapping or killing of possums were
cancelled. Finally, in 1951, a control measure was introduced - a bounty
of 2s 6d a head to be paid on all killed possums from which skins had
not been taken - a scheme that continued until 1960.
Possums number in excess of 70 million, even pushing sheep into second
place, and it is thought that they currently munch their way through
21,000 tonnes of vegetation every day. They are also carriers of bovine
TB, an added menace to the dairy, beef and deer industries. They pose a
threat to the survival of native bush and to the indigenous fauna that
rely on the tree fruits and flowers for food, to say nothing of the
eating of eggs and killing of chicks.
Most travellers will encounter possums either when walking the tracks or
when driving. Road kill possum is know colloquially as "road pizza": the
relatively cute-looking, furry little creatures engender an almost
pathological hatred in even the most mild mannered Kiwis who will swerve
all over the road in order to run them over. Many believe a return to
the old possum hunter days would provide the best solution to the
problem with hunters getting a few dollars for each pelt and creating
employment. The Department of Conservation continue with the
controversial policy of poisoning which in the past has led to
casualties amongst non-targeted bird species. But whatever the solution
it is clear that if the possums are allowed to continue unchecked they
will turn New Zealand into a barren wasteland
Land-usage
People came to New Zealand to build a new life in a green land and
visitors today arrive with many romantic images in mind. With a
population of only 3.6 million, you would expect human interference to
be limited but the country is in fact one of the most bizarre ecological
disasters in the history of man. Forest cover has been reduced from
about 85 percent since human colonization, while nearly three-quarters
of the land area is given over to the production of food and commercial
forestry, the latter essential to the national economy. Most of the
trees are quick-growing radiata pine , an American species introduced
because it is more profitable than any native variety; these days just
ten percent of native forest remains.
The increase in demand for forestry- and wet-land goes unabated, even
though commercial timber milling turns areas into virtual lunar deserts
dotted with tree stumps. A by-product is added air pollution from fume-spitting,
eighteen-wheeler logging trucks. And despite a sustained programme to
eradicate them, pests like possums , wild deer, goats and rabbits pose a
serious threat to the country's economic welfare.
Pollution
Influenced by commerce, past governments have favoured some decidedly
unfriendly environmental policies, although the recently elected Labour
coalition is now trying to redress the balance. Despite a record of
admirable moral stands, such as banning ships and submarines carrying
nuclear warheads from its shores , governments have usually managed to
disregard environmental initiatives related to air pollution and
industrial emissions . New Zealand has the second worst record for CO2
emissions in the OECD. Although it's perceived abroad as a country with
enviably clean air, the quality of air in many cities, if measured, is
shocking (check out Christchurch in the winter), and there have been
massive increases in asthma and other respiratory problems amongst the
young. Greenpeace rates the pollution from the Tasman pulp and paper
mill in Kawerau as one of the country's worst problems. The mill is
apparently responsible for the largest discharge of toxic organochlorine
chemicals in the country and the nearby Tawera River has been
contaminated by some of the most harmful chemicals known to man. New
Zealand also scores badly on waste disposal and the monitoring of
chemical usage and contaminated sites - with 700 potentially
contaminated sites, it is on a par with the USA. Every day more than a
billion litres of sewage and industrial waste is discharged into rivers
and the sea.
Further short-sightedness is sadly evident in the use of intensive
farming techniques and the massive amounts of phosphates piled onto soil
that has been heavily exploited this century. Some rivers and lakes, in
regions such as the Waikato, are either polluted by high nitrate levels
or have few natural features left. Thankfully there is a strong
groundswell of informed opinion leaning towards organic smallholdings
that become increasingly profitable with the rising consumer demand for
natural, untreated food. Recently the food industry has introduced a
carefully monitored "eco-label", where rigorous standards provide an
independent endorsement of the quality of food production. However more
recently the Americans have been bullying New Zealand, with threats of
trade sanctions, into accepting genetically modified crops and products.
Energy
New Zealand is about 70 percent energy self-sufficient, but the known
reserves of gas and oil are thought to be good for only another twenty
to thirty years and coal will also run out sometime in the next century.
Demand for energy is currently on the increase, thanks to energy
intensive processes like aluminium smelting (near Invercargill) and the
Taranaki petrochemical industry, together with a general increase in
energy demand of 57 percent, despite only a 17 percent population rise
over the last 25 years.
Although the nation is surrounded by sea water and buffeted by high
winds, the efforts to exploit alternative power sources have been token
at best with the recent Palmerston North wind-farm being a notable
exception . Hydroelectricity is, on the face of it, an environmentally
friendly way of coping with the demands for power from an ever
increasing population, but the flooding of unique environments to create
lakes and grand dams has destroyed numerous natural habitats. Perhaps
the most important environments at risk are the riverbanks, where
threatened species of birds live, nest and feed.
Preserving the environment
Much of New Zealand is utilized for farming and forestry, and land
constantly swallowed up by urban sprawl, so what remains of pre-colonized
New Zealand is under increased pressure.
Although not enough was done, as early as the 1880s it was realized that
humans were having a detrimental effect on the land and that measures
needed to be taken to preserve the environment. Pressure was exerted by
the eco warriors of the time to conserve the forest, wetlands and
volcanic areas by gazetting them as national parks . In this way, native
flora and fauna could be preserved, encouraging regeneration and
restocking. In 1887 Te Heuheu Tukino IV (Horonuku) set the ball rolling
by giving the nucleus of the Tongariro National Park to the nation, in
order to preserve the integrity of a venerated tribal area. The newest
national park is the Kahurangi, formed in 1996 to ensure the
preservation of an area of great natural beauty at the northwestern tip
of the South Island.
A further effort to take back land and alleviate pressure on the
national parks has seen the creation of small scenic reserves or managed
areas, zones given over to preserving or regenerating native bush. There
are hundreds of them dotted around the country, each concerned with
regenerating a particular aspect of the local environment so that it can
sustain native fauna. The process requires great vigilance as the stands
grow slowly and are constantly under threat from development and
introduced animals. It takes at least a hundred years for the bush to
grow to maturity.
In another positive step, the Department of Conservation has made
efforts to clear pests from offshore islands , in order to trans-locate
endangered native species and ensure their survival. The creation of
these environmental sanctuaries/havens saves many animals and plants
from extinction and provides an opportunity to build up numbers of
species on the brink of oblivion. Once the native birds become familiar
with their new environment they become less fearful and allow their
curiosity full rein, inspecting visitors at close quarters - just as
they would have done when Maori first arrived over a thousand years ago. |
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