Short term gain, long term pain:
Date: 13th September 2023
The damaging consequences of cutting funding for environmental regeneration.
Pioneering wilding pines on the march across iconic Central Otago landscape
Alexa Forbes, an Otago Regional Councillor has written a thought-provoking story on her blog site www.alexaforbes.blog about funding declines using wilding and wallabies as examples. Check out the link below or go to her blog.
I am sure Alexa’s words will resonate with everyone working in the wilding as well as the biosecurity space:
The impacts of inadequate funding are far-reaching. Beyond the immediate loss of progress, the resurgence of these pests threatens the fragile balance of New Zealand’s ecosystems. Native plants and animals face greater pressures, leading to diminished biodiversity and ecological instability. And the economic repercussions are huge, as industries reliant on undisturbed landscapes, such as tourism and agriculture, suffer and lose immense future opportunity. And spare a thought for the poor contractor, scaling up and down, buying and selling equipment amid uncertainty.
Let’s call for New Zealand to reevaluate its approach to funding conservation efforts. Instead of repeating the mistakes of the past, lets adopt a forward-thinking strategy that emphasizes long-term investment in environmental restoration and pest eradication programs. Actually, just reaching for the goals we’ve already agreed on the the world stage would be a great way of continuing this work. Getting on with funding the plans we have to safeguard our environment is a no brainer on every level. It’s economically sensible (minimum $20 – $1 cost benefit ratio), it helps us reach our global agreements, it makes us all feel better because our world is better and it’s a promise to future generations that we will protect the natural treasures that define our identity.
LET’S FINISH THE JOB!
Posted in: News