"It's certainly not perfect, but neither are other methods. To protect dogs, which are highly vulnerable to 1080, it's essential to keep them out of forests where biodegradable 1080 has been used.
"We all have a part to play in getting these forests back to good health, and that is inconvenient to some people," he added.
"Pig hunters who use dogs need to keep their dogs out of the forests until the warning signs have been removed. But there's ample opportunity for hunters to fill their freezers ahead of any 1080 operation."
He had twice used 1080 bait stations on his property, helping save kiwi, cave weta, miromiro/tomtits and ancient northern rata in the process. He used both traps and toxins (with a controlled substances/poisons licence), and had not used 1080 without being thoroughly informed.
He had travelled the country, looking at forests where 1080 had and had not been used. He had challenged DoC, scientists and pest control experts to gain understanding. He had realised that much of what he had assumed about 1080 was based on ignorance rather than fact, which he believed often applied to current opponents of 1080.
"I have looked extensively after using 1080, and have never found a dead bird, native or introduced, but the benefit to the bush has been huge in terms of flower and seed production, trees that have been under sustained attack coming back to life and birdlife noticeably increasing," he said.
"Unfortunately we are now at the stage that native forests and many species within them are reliant on us for their survival; that means pest control. We have so many threatened species in Northland forests, from tusked weta to rata, kōkako to pupurangi/kauri snails.
"Pest control in Tai Tokerau is becoming a formidable challenge, and there's no silver bullet, but not using 1080 in most Northland native forests since the 1990s means we have an advanced collapse that we have to tackle now. I'm relieved that after three years of work the investment in conservation of these internationally important forests is finally coming to Northland.
"Last year, when Maggie Barry was Conservation Minister, she announced $380,000 in funding to turn around the collapse of Russell Forest, and committed to DoC working with hapū to develop a 20-year forest health plan for Northland.
"I have watched the development of that 20-year framework and attended hui. I love what is being considered in the extremely complex context of Treaty claims and the crisis that the forest is in, but regionally, despite all the good work that is under way, we are still at the beginning of the work needed to turn around the collapse.
"It's going to take open minds, action, constant adaptation and continuity."
