Editorial: Having a rural voice
OPINION: The past few weeks have been tough on farms across the North Island: floods and storms have caused damage and disruption to families and businesses.
Richard Dawkins, Federated Farmers' spokesperson on pest issues, says the campaign is about raising awareness of New Zealand's growing pest problem and spur some action.
"Sure, we’re taking a cheeky and playful tone with our messaging, but this is a serious issue that needs some urgent attention from the Beehive," Dawkins says.
"These pests and weeds aren’t just a minor nuisance; they’re an economic and environmental crisis causing serious problems for farmers and conservationists.
"They’re spreading disease, destroying native forests, killing native birds, chewing through farmer’s pasture, and in some cases eating newborn lambs - it’s absolutely devastating."
To highlight the problem, Federated Farmers has booked a large digital billboard outside the Beehive and will feature a new pest each day in the lead-up to Christmas.
"Unfortunately, these pests are out of sight and out of mind for most New Zealanders, running rampant through farms and forests, not cities and suburbs," Dawkins says.
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"That’s why we wanted to put them up in bright lights in central Wellington - to make politicians and the public really sit up and take notice."
Dawkins says New Zealand’s pest problem is getting worse by the day, and the country needs a coordinated national pest management plan to protect our farms, forests and biodiversity.
"Pests are costing farmers hundreds of millions of dollars every year in lost pasture, damaged fences and stock losses - but there is a large cost to indigenous biodiversity too.
"And the problem is only getting worse. New Zealand’s pest control systems are severely underfunded and too fragmented to do the job properly.
"Responsibility is scattered across DOC, regional councils, MPI, OSPRI and others, but there is no single lead agency with overall responsibility - so we keep going backwards.
"We’re calling for a national pest strategy that unites all the main players under one co-ordinated plan covering all species and land tenures."
Dawkins says most urban New Zealanders would be horrified if they saw the true scale of the pest problem facing farmers and conservationists.
"For example, I’m well aware of many farmers - like those in the Lawrence area of Otago - who are losing large numbers of newborn lambs to feral pigs coming out of forestry blocks.
"These farmers are heading out during lambing season to find their paddocks strewn with the picked-clean carcasses of dead lambs. It’s terrible stuff."
And pigs are just one of the 12 pests robbing farming families of Christmas joy.
Other pests on Federated Farmers’ naughty list include wilding pines, possums, feral deer, feral goats, wild cats, wallabies, rabbits, and Canada Geese.
Dawkins says he hopes the ‘The Twelve Pests of Christmas’ campaign will spark some serious conversations about the issue.
"If we can get everyday New Zealanders talking about our national pest problem as they stand around a barbeque drinking a beer this summer, then we’ve done our job.
"And if we can get Ministers talking about the issue around the Cabinet table, that’s even better, because they’re who we need to step up and sort this out.
"Farmers are doing their bit - trapping, shooting, poisoning, fencing, clearing, monitoring, you name it - but this can’t be solved farm by farm.
"A national problem of this scale requires a national solution - but that will require much more coordination, funding and leadership."
