OIAD-3223
11 August 2023
Ryan
[FYI request #20181 email]
Tēnā koe
Thank you for your Official Information Act (OIA) request to the Department of Conservation (the
Department), received on 13 July 2023 in which you asked for information concerning the Habitat
Tuateawa possum and rat control operation.
Your questions and our responses are listed below:
1.
The funding application provided under the act, states support from Ruakatauri Huarere,
please supply the documented evidence this support exists and is current and Habitat
Tuateawa have consent and permission to claim support for the purposes of funding.
The Department has not received any funding application from Habitat Tuateawa. I am
therefore refusing your request under section 18(e) of the OIA as the that the document alleged
to contain the information requested does not exist. If you are also interested in funding
provided by entities other than DOC, Waikato Regional Council may be able to assist you with
obtaining this information.
2.
On 10th July 2023 in a meeting was arranged by Department of Conservation representative
Nick Kelly and Sue Saunders acting for Habitat Tuateawa Incorporated and I was invited to
attend, plans were announced of a progressive end to poison over the next years and a
trapping only trial to take place - accordingly - please supply the proposal along with all
information such as maps, traps to be donated to the community by DoC and all details
relevant to the project including but not limited to the consent necessary and already obtained
by adjacent affected land owners as well as the last 24 months trapping data from monitoring
of the trap network with how many traps are being serviced already and the catch rates to
show how this has been managed to date with the funding already supplied and to ascertain
the feasibility of the proposal.
I
have decided to release the requested document in part, as listed in Table 1 (Item 1).
We are however not responsible for the recording of data associated with the trap lines noted.
Community Groups will often record their data in an online system called TrapNZ. This system
is not owned, operated, or controlled by the Department. To date, we have not had any reason
to collect the data you have requested. I am therefore refusing your request under section
18(g) of the OIA because the information requested is not held.
3.
During the July 10th meeting, Department of Conservation manager Nick Kelly suggested
those against the poison should produce evidence that the pig population has been poisoned
by diphacinone and accordingly I remind DoC of the stipulations within the consent application
in which monitoring is a compulsory requirement of the parties contracted and it is not the
responsibility of anyone else to prove how the rotting corpse of a dead pig may have perished
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- accordingly - please supply all the Habitat Tuateawa monitoring data following the 2021 and
2022 toxic baiting using diphacinone and cholecalciferol so that we may assess the adequacy
of the monitoring in place.
I refer you to our previous response to OIAD-2374 dated 11 October 2022. Questions three
and four of this response provided all information held by the Department around monitoring
data and requirements on this matter.
4.
During the 10th July meeting, a document Affirming the Truth, was supplied to Department of
Conservation operations manager Nick Kelly, in relation to evidence held showing diphacinone
D Block extreme both inside and outside the Habitat Tuateawa Inc bait stations as grazed by
possums and on tracks amidst pig sign in the first weeks of September 2022 both before and
during the 2022 Habitat Tuateawa baiting season when there is compulsory stipulation that
Diphacinone may not be used where pig numbers were high and as evidenced that they were
- please supply copy of this document affirming the truth under the official information act.
It is my understanding that this document “affirming the truth” was provided by yourself to the
Department and as such, you will already have this document available. However, if you no
longer have a copy of your document, we can locate this and email it to you.
5.
Following the meeting on 10th July, Habitat Tuateawa and subcontractors were present on
Whanake with chainsaws cutting tracks and nailing new plastic to trees and in on 11th & 12th
of July were present spray painting fluorescent pink crosses, stripes and spots over hundreds
of native trees whilst slashing at the native saplings and walking past a decaying corpse of a
small rat present for at least 3 months in a Habitat Tuateawa trap and then crashing through
private property as thoroughfare just after 3pm on 11th July - Accordingly - please provide
proof of consultation and consent with all land owners adjacent to this activity which is deemed
a breach of the peace and offensive for an incorporation push their way in despite these
objections, to paint poison and nail plastic to native trees whilst slashing their way through.
Marking and maintaining tracks for trapping is consistent with Habitat Tuateawa’s current
management agreement with the Department. Adjacent landowner consent is not required.
This follows best practice and remains consistent with the Predator Free 2050 Best Practice
trapping guide which can be accessed in the public domain at:
https://www.doc.govt.nz/globalassets/documents/conservation/threats-and-
impacts/pf2050/pf2050-trapping-guide.pdf
6.
Additionally, please provide all 2023 information in relation to the consents current and their
applications for Habitat Tuateawa in relation to their intention to again poison our forest park
which is evidenced and affirmed as an offence to the peace under section 200 of the Crimes
Act 1961.
I have decided to release the requested documents, as listed in Table 1 (Item 2).
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Table 1 – Schedule of documents
Item Date
Document description
Decision
1
24 July 2023
OIAD-3223 – Document 1 for release -
Released in full
Habitat Tuateawa rodent trapping trial
2
24 July 2023
OIAD-3223 – Document 2 for release - DOC
Released in part
Application Form to Use Pesticides 2023
I have decided to release the relevant parts of the documents listed above, subject to information
being withheld under one or more of the following sections of the Official Information Act, as
applicable:
• personal contact details of officials, under section 9(2)(a) – to protect the privacy of natural
persons, including deceased people.
In making my decision, I have considered the public interest considerations in section 9(1) of the
Official Information Act and determined there are no public interests which outweigh the grounds
for withholding.
You are entitled to seek an investigation and review of my decision by writing to an Ombudsman
as provided by section 28(3) of the Official Information Act.
Please note that this letter (with your personal details removed) and enclosed documents may be
published on the Department’s website.
If you wish to discuss this with the Department, please contact Nick Kelly, Operations Manager
on 027 540 6165 or by email
[email address]. Nāku noa, nā
Tinaka Mearns
Director Operations Hauraki Waikato Taranaki
Department of Conservation
Te Papa Atawhai
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