21 March 2016 Allowing extinction is inter-generational theft

A capacity crowd turned out for the increasingly popular Annual Earth Hour discussion at Lincoln University on Thursday 17 March, where six panellists, astutely led by broadcaster Kim Hill, informed, entertained and challenged their audience.

Strong words, varied approaches and plenty of humour from the panellists, but a blanket message summed up by Selwyn District Counsellor Sarah Walters: “We’re all needed in the toolbox to save what’s important to us.”

Much of the discussion revolved around the question of whether preventing extinction is about ecosystems or individual species. While some of the panellists work directly with specific endangered species, others are more ecosystem focused and argued that saving individual species is not enough and that there has to be awareness and action around the ecosystems those species inhabit.

Department of Conservation Threatened Species Ambassador and self-confessed “nature nerd” Nicola Toki pulled no punches when talking about the threat of extinction to almost 450 species in New Zealand: “What we’re doing to our children is inter-generational theft.”

Mike Thorsen of the Endangered Species Foundation said, “We’re not good at ecosystem management yet but we have had lots of experience in managing species.” He pointed out the tendency to focus on “the big and the cute” to get public attention, whereas the focus of the Foundation is on the most endangered – some of these being tiny, ugly and unknown. The Foundation’s aim is to raise $10 million towards preventing the extinction of the ten most endangered plants and animals.

On the topic of funding, Lincoln University Senior Lecturer James Ross said the question of whether New Zealand can afford to do the work required to “remove and defend” vast tracts of land is not the right question to ask. “We can afford it. It’s about priorities, a choice we have to make as a country.”

Local curator, writer, poet and researcher Te Awhina Arahanga believes red tape, policies and politics around conservation have led to the fractured approach currently taken by multiple agencies. “We need to ask ourselves how we can work together to solve the issues.”

Dr Bill Lee, Principal Scientist at Landcare Research, touched on the need for incentives to change the way New Zealanders think about land use and biodiversity. “We need to resurrect the riparian system we once had to mitigate the detrimental effects of what we do with the land.”

Professor Steve Wratten supported this. “We need to make biodiversity work for us.” He added that the biggest problem ecologists face is working with people who are chasing short term profit. He would like to see measurement done by GPI (Genuine Progress Indicator), rather than the current monetary based GDP (Gross Domestic Product).

Kim Hill captured the overall mood and purpose at the conclusion of the event. “We’re not here to be wishful thinkers. We’re here to talk about how all people can make a difference.”