A PROMISE TO RESCUE KAPITI

Evening Post, Volume CIII, Issue 55, 7 March 1922, Page 6

A PROMISE TO RESCUE KAPITI

Addressing the members- of, the Kapiti Island Sanctuary Advisory Board —a body which did not meet for over sixteen months, arid which almost certainly would not have met now but for action taken in the columns of this paper—the Minister of Lands stated .yesterday :

I want to say definitely and distinctly vthat", there has be^n no neglect on the part of the. Advisory" Committee or. on that of the Lands Department in regard to'the care of the'island. ' '.... .

Concerning the board (or committee, as the Minister calls it) we have at present nothing to say, because apparently it has no executive powers, and does not seem to meet without some initiative impetus from the permanent officials of the -Lands Department (one of whom presides over it) or from the Minister; but as regards the Department and its political head, we say, just as definitely as the Minister, that there has been neglect of Kapiti as a sanctuary, and that the Minister's own admissions prove the fact. He himself says that the goats and sheep are destroying the forest, and it is well known that this has been going on for years'(there is in the Department's files a report on the subject dated about 1914), and that a check could have been imposed long ago if the Department had applied itself to the subject with the energy that it promises to apply now. The Minister throws a characteristically weak gibe at people " fond of their pens." It is true that he allowed as long a gap as possible to intervene' between the Kapiti articles published in The Post at Christmas, and the taking of departmental action, possibly for the purpose of removing the appearance of cause and effect; it is true also that, latterly, his conspicuous leisureliness has .caused press,correspondents to become restive; but .does anyone believe that yesterday's public deputation, with all its admissions, would have taken place had it not been for the' publicity given , at Christmas to the long-standing and now rapid deterioration of Kapitj as a forest and as a bird-sanctu-ary 1 If the condition of Kapiti last Christmas—-and also to-day, notwithstanding the attacks on the goats in the interval —is not a sample of neglect, what on earth is? So far as The Post is. concerned, the Minister's remark about the caretaker is beside the mark. Neither The Post^nor the .writer of the contributed articles, has either blamed or excused the servant. The, charge is against the Department, including the Minister. ) !/, . ■

If credible evidence of recent shooting is reliable, it is hardly to be expected that the goats will be as much in evidence on Kapiti, when the Minister and the board visit the island, as thj3y have been; but the condition of the forest will be plain to the eye. Moreover, the Minister's admissions ibp the board, admissions evidently based y on. his own independent advice apart ,from that of the board; go as far as the substance of the argument in The Postfs contributed articles, and even farther^ The writer of these articles' assures us that, in an effort to be more than fair, he in some respects under-stated the 'case; and the report pf the interview between the Minister and the board bears this out. Had not the Minister complained of " silly nonsense "-being written against him, we would not have devoted so ,much space as we have done to past errors and to the degree of culpability attaching to them. What we are more concerned with, and what we propose to concentrate on unless there is more backbiting, is tlio putting into practice I of the new policy': for it''is now i clear—amd thisns thejmahV fact of , the situation —that the. Minister has formulated a constructive pro-

gramme, similar to the programme set out in the articles contributed to this journal, and centring in fencing and stock-destruction. He is reported aB saying: \

They must, however, fence in the land and givo notice to the Webbers that they must keep their stock off the Government land. ■ ■■ "

The fencing (recommended to the Government as long ago as 19149 is essential; so obviously essential that to carry it out should not have needed the hammering that has taken place. Now that the .Minister declares that " the proper thing is to fence in the land and destroy those animals " (sheep and goats)) we hope to see- this not very costly work put in hand without further controversy or delay; and if Minister goes further and maintains his promise to de-stroy-the opossums, so much the better. It was shown, in the articles referred to, that the opossum, is at least under grave suspicion; and that whether or not his existence is compatible with forestry and is desirable in .New Zealand forests generally, a bird sanctuary is no place for him. On the constructive side, the Minister's statement is, so far it goes, satisfactory. May it result huaction. \