Our bush is boring and our birds dull. Why bother to save them?

Thursday, 15 December 2016

Pretty, or pretty boring? Native bush and pathway at the Tui Walk at Lake Rotoiti, Nelson Lakes.

OPINION: Trigger warning: I am about to blaspheme about something Kiwis hold sacred – their warm and fuzzy view of our country's natural history and environment.

New Zealand's bush is boring. Sure, there's loads of trees, but our bush isn't exactly teeming with captivating animals. And forget all of this touristy claptrap about our amazing birdlife; if you ever actually see any of our feathered friends, it's usually some dull little brown or green thing. With wings.

And why do we waste so much of our conservation effort on creatures that no one ever sees, like the massively in-bred kakapo? Half of them are sterile anyway, so why not let nature take its course and allow them to peacefully disappear?

In the shocked silence before the bellows of indignation begin, I'll quickly say I'm playing the Devil's advocate here, trying to shake up the standard, and slightly smug, view most Kiwis have of our natural environment. My real aim is to argue for how we could do even better in our conservation efforts – including, I hasten to add, ensuring that kakapo don't just survive but also thrive.

READ MORE:

Sirocco, New Zealand's most famous kakapo, gives the lie to the idea that our birds are 'boring'.

*** Predator-free New Zealand: No fences allowed

* Predator free New Zealand by 2050: will it work?

* Government sets target to make New Zealand 'predator-free' by 2050

* Predator-free New Zealand 'unrealistic' - NZ First**

To make amends for the sacrilege above, I'll briefly quote from the official Kakapo Recovery website: 'They are, without doubt, one of the most remarkable birds in the world.' What more needs to be said? It would be both a tragedy and a travesty if we allowed this unique creature to vanish if we have the means to save it. The only question is how best this can be achieved.

Release of 28 South Island saddleback on Adele Island by the Abel Tasman Birdsong Trust.

As for New Zealand's bush, the reason our native fauna are so few and far between is the devastation wrought by us humans and the pests we've introduced. Just thinking about what we once had – from giant moa to tiny flightless wrens – is enough to make you weep. And even as late as 1770, Joseph Banks could report being 'awakd by the singing of birds' and 'the most melodious wild musick' that he had ever heard. Sadly, the 'sound of silence' is almost all you hear now.

So what's to be done?

First we need inspiration. And that's where projects like saving the kakapo more than pay their way – the very fact that this bird is still alive, that it's been saved, provides a motivational benefit that far outweighs economic costs.

But we also need clear and ambitious future goals.

The final sentence of Kakapo Recovery's 'Plan for the Future' reads: 'Ultimately, a distant dream is to be able to reintroduce kakapo to the mainland.' But this shouldn't be an ultimate 'distant dream'; surely the unequivocal first sentence of any plan for the kakapo's future should be to bring these birds back for all of us to enjoy.

And that is why fresh new ideas such as a 'predator free' New Zealand present such a radical and exciting vision for the future, with a motivating message of positivity and possibility beyond the day-to-day struggle just to keep what we've got. But why just stop with eradicating pests? What then?

One issue that we must address seriously is when and how to deploy modern genetic technology in our conservation efforts. Given time, conventional conservation methods might bring about desired results. But time is the one thing our endangered species simply don't have. So if modern genetic techniques can complement and speed up the orthodox approach to conservation, we should be eager to explore what it has to offer.

It's not a bad metaphor to suggest that we grasp this genetic bull firmly by the horns – in the USA, the latest 'gene editing' technology has already produced hornless cattle. In China, meanwhile, pet 'micro-pigs' have been created using similar techniques. Wouldn't it be wonderful if New Zealand could use this technology for a much more worthwhile conservation cause?

There is already talk of using biotechnology in pest control – to spread infertility through possum populations, say, through genetic manipulation. But there's been relatively little discussion of using biotech from the opposite direction, in assisting our endangered animals directly.

In the past, for example, identifying infertility, the bane of kakapo reproduction, could takes years of (ahem) sterile effort; soon this could be done with a simple genetic test. In the future, biotechnology could help reintroduce lost genetic diversity into in-breed or 'functionally extinct' species. And beyond that, who knows? Chickens laying modified eggs that hatch endangered birds might sound like science fiction, but it could readily become scientific fact.

The Royal Society of New Zealand has recently produced a raft of resources on gene editing technology. This is well worth accessing. The last thing our threatened fauna needs is misinformed debate about possibilities for its future.

But to end with more Devil's advocacy. Does it really matter that kakapo, like so many of our native birds, might soon become extinct? Does it really matter that our forests are a hollow husk of what they once were?

If the answer is a resounding 'Yes!', then it's time to get serious about our goals for the future. And about how we are going to achieve them.

Patrick Whittle is a keen tramper, mainly above the tree-line. He has worked with and been bitten by little blue penguin, but bears no grudges against other native birds.