A jewelled gecko. Photo supplied.
Gerrard Eckhoff suggests that we should be able to
export wildlife legally.
The alleged attempt(s) to illegally export the indigenous
jewelled gecko will rightly cause significant concern to many
people.
Being stuffed into a piece of plastic tubing for the duration
of a lengthy plane flight is bad enough, but when your
(gecko) net worth is around $12,000 (according to the
Department of Conservation) it seems so much worse.
So why not export wildlife legally and in comfort? The
Government, through the Department of Conservation (Doc),
needs to allow and indeed encourage the private breeding and
legal trade of indigenous wildlife.
There is obviously a ready market and a strong demand
overseas for lovers of our wildlife so it follows that
enterprising New Zealanders could develop a flourishing trade
and earn valuable foreign exchange.
A recent poll showed 85% of us believe in the benefits of
private enterprise in the saving of our wildlife.
Under the current monopoly enjoyed by Doc the numbers of our
endangered wildlife are diminishing rapidly - despite its
best efforts and intentions.
One of the most significant problems is that government
employees with authority to manage government-owned resources
do not bear the economic or social consequences of their
decisions - as the rest of us most assuredly do.
This natural monopoly status would be accepted if the kiwi
and the kakapo, kea and the kaka were flourishing in the
wild, but they are not.
In fact, Doc was predicting the extinction of the kiwi in the
New Zealand mainland within a couple of decades but thanks to
the development of predator-proof fencing (by private
enterprise), that unhappy scenario will not play out.
The public is rightly concerned by the gradual demise of our
highly valued fauna but not always fully informed of the
reasons why.
For example:It has been observed that the numbers of our
native kea have fallen significantly.
The reason for that fall in numbers is not 1080 poison or
irate merino breeders shooting rogue birds with the bad habit
of eating the sheep's kidney fat - in situ - but the demise
of the deer-recovery operations.
The deer were gutted after shooting, leaving a vast amount of
nutrient for the kea.
Mother kea then raised three chicks instead of usual one.
This form of supplementary feeding is a basic premise to the
success of breeding and raising all animals.
This cannot be achieved in the wild.
It must be remembered that all native plants (as opposed to
animals) can be bought, sold or exchanged and even exported.
Indeed, the government and environmental organisations
positively laud the private planting, breeding and sale of
our indigenous flora.
Many plant species have been saved from extinction.
It should also be remembered that at last count, 18
indigenous bird species have succumbed to the ethos of better
dead than privately bred.
This, of course, occurred under the watchful eye of the
government.
Where is the problem with, say, a school breeding and raising
jewelled gecko (as an example) so they can learn about the
importance of protecting their wildlife and also learn a
little of how commerce can assist their enterprise when
numbers become too great for their enclosure.
Environmentalism contains the seeds of its own destruction
through the failure to allow private enterprise the right to
assist and ultimately trade in the goal of wildlife
preservation.
Gerrard Eckhoff is a Roxburgh farmer and Otago regional
councillor.
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