While Conservation Minister Maggie Barry's plan to use 1080 in her campaign to make New Zealand predator free by 2050 is being attacked by opposition parties, Tauranga conservationist Basil Graeme fully supports it.

New Zealand First outdoor recreation spokesman Richard Prosser claims the use of 1080 will place the health of New Zealanders and dogs at risk, but Basil says dogs shouldn't be in the bush anyway.

Conservation Minister Maggie Barry has been attacked for plans to use 1080 poison to achieve the goal of making New Zealand predator free by 2050. File Photo.

Richard is attacking Maggie's claim that 1080 breaks down in 48 hours and to keep dogs out of a 1080 drop area for two days, saying it is belied by her own Department of Conservation which warns baits can remain in poisoned carcasses for months.

It's a fact Basil regards as a huge plus for the use of 1080 in New Zealand.

'Dogs are uniquely sensitive I think 40 times more sensitive than a possum, so they just have to get a whiff of the stuff and they are in trouble,” says Basil.

'Then again there shouldn't be dogs in the forest. Dogs eating poisoned carcasses is a great thing. Cats. The cats eat the rats, so do stoats. It controls stoats, feral cats, feral dogs, pigs, wallabies.

'The Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment has produced a report for the Government on the use of 1080 and she says the only problem with 1080 basically, is we don't us it enough.

'It's the safest toxin to use. It doesn't have any effects on water, it doesn't last in environment. On land it is quickly broken down.

'The only thing it lasts in is it lasts in dead possums, until they rot entirely and the 1080 residue gets into the soil where the bacteria break it down.

'This is why Western Australia has over four million hectares being treated with 1080 every year. They are controlling foxes with it because foxes are dogs. They aerial drop 1080 baits, the foxes just keel over.”

Tauranga conservationist Basil Graeme fully supports the use of 1080. File Photo.

It's safe for everything else because 1080 is produced in the vegetation of Western Australia, which is where Basil says it was discovered.

What the government's announcement really means is some funding for possum control has got to be lined up and policy put in place to tackle New Zealanders responsibility to keep native plants and animals alive, says Basil.

'This is an intergenerational policy,” says Basil. 'This is to hand on a legacy to our children, and if we don't do it, we won't have the legacy of our native forests and our native wildlife.”

He says use of 1080 is to ‘hold the line' while other means or eradication are developed.

At Aongatete where Forest and Bird and Katikati rotary are protecting the birdlife of 500ha of Kaimai bush from stoats, rats and possums, there are several poisons being used – cyanide, cholecalciferol and diphacinone.

Colecalciferol is also known as Vitamin D3. While essential in small doses for humans, it causes heart failure in possums. Diphacinone is a blood thinner doctors prescribe it for people with heart problems, says Basil. Cholecalciferol is prescribed to women to build up their bone density.

There is also new research proposed looking at new methods like genetic sterility.

NZ First outdoor recreation spokesman Richard Prosser. Photo: NZF