All of us responsible for damage to Aotearoa

A109 Light Utility Helicopter flight with mayor Gisborne City from the air in November 2023.

Opinion

Bob Hughes cannot be allowed to blame colonisation and Pakeha farming methods for all of the deforestation and damage to Aotearoa.

“When Māori arrived, about 1250-1300 CE, they burned large tracts of forest, mainly on the coasts and eastern sides of the two main islands. By the time European settlement began, around 1840, some 6.7 million hectares of forest had been destroyed and replaced by short grassland, shrub land and fern land.” — https://teara.govt.nz/en/interactive/11674/deforestation-of-new-zealand

ALL of the people who have lived in Aotearoa are responsible for where we are today — not just any particular group.

I might also point out that Māori were enthusiastic adopters of European farming, new animals and crops — and quickly became sharp traders in their own right and adopters of the money system.

We are in the sad environmental situation of today because all of us — collectively — have ignored all of the many warning signs that our way of living is contrary to nature, and despoiling the planet.

To anyone who cares, I sadly would have to say there are no easy, quick answers.

Proposing that “all countries cease emitting greenhouse gases of all kinds” would be laughable, if it were not so tragically impossible.

All of our environmental problems stem from two factors — population and rampant consumption.

The blunt truth is for any change to governments, big business, industry and other human activities, people everywhere are going to have to be persuaded to accept major changes and pain in their lives.

Asking people to give up what they have got — asking them to adopt a new way of living without many of the things they now enjoy — THAT is the hard part.

I am willing to accept the challenge, but I understand others will not, for many reasons.

Being Green is not just a matter of being a vegetarian, shopping second-hand and occasionally catching a bus or riding a bike.

One thing is clear — time is very short for making life-saving decisions for the planet and humans.

Roger Handford