Another day, another tale of a farmer destroying the environment - this time one of them has wiped out a third of a threatened species of plant, in order to grow feed for cows:
A Canterbury farmer has laid waste to a threatened native shrub, knocking out a third of its national population in one fell swoop.
Once abundant along the East Coast, shrubby tororaro is now down to 3700 plants, most of those on private farmland on Kaitorete Spit near Banks Peninsula.
Forest and Bird's Jen Miller said farmer Brent Thomas sprayed the shrubs with a herbicide before the land was sown with oats for winter feed.
About 1000 shrubs were lost.
Forest and Bird is now seeking an enforcement order to force the farmer to undo the damage and return the land to its natural state. They're also seeking to have a Christchurch City Council regulation allowing the clearance of native vegetation declared void, as it clearly fails to protect taonga species. If they lose, then it will be clear that law changes are needed to force councils to do their jobs and protect endangered species from being wiped out by those whose first thought is profit.
