September 18, 2018
Smith out of 1080 rabbit hole
MIKE SMITH FULL INTERVIEW CLICK HERE
A veteran Māori activist is challenging the tactics used by anti-1080 protesters.
An anti-1080 hikoi travelled down the country fuelled by an active social media campaign and finished at parliament, where protesters dumped dead birds on the steps.
Mike Smith says it also sparked threats on social media against people who support the use of the poison.
He says 1080 is the most effective way to clear many inaccessible forests of possums, rats and other predators, and whānau and hapū have the right to support its use.
"I mean it's counterintuitive. When I first heard about it, the idea of bombing the forest with poison triggers a gut reaction in a lot of people like 'hell no, that can't be a good thing, and that was my response until I took the time to talk to people I trusted who had gone down the rabbit hole with the science instead of going down the internet for the pseudo science," Mr Smith says.
He says in many places the alternative to 1080 will be forests denuded of indigenous plants, birds and animals.
Copyright © 2018, UMA Broadcasting Ltd: www.waateanews.com