Wonders of Whakatane - Nativism, a Destructive Form of Environmenta...

Today I would like to address the controversial issue of nativism, and how this misplaced and misundersood environmentalist movement is the cause of much destruction in New Zealand (and presumably other parts of the world), while being touted as a protective practice.

The Evolution of Ecosystems

It is a given fact that all species constantly adapt to their environments, seeking out a certain edge over others, and if they do so successfully, they ultimately have lasting effect on their ecosystems. As a result, all other species have to adapt to their new conditions themselves, and thus bringing forth irreversible change, thus evolving the ecosystem in its entirety. Generally the result is a greater diversity in species, though it may also often include a transition phase of extinctions and loss of species. This is a perfectly normal part of how nature works, and our species is not excluded.

In cases of remote locations, such as Australia or New Zealand, the ecosystems remained largely unaffected by the changes to the natural ecosystems in the rest of the world, long before Homo sapiens appeared on the scene. Once we did, however, we started carrying plants and animals around the world, as you would expect us to do. Most of this, like bringing coffee to the Americas, turkeys to Europe, or chili peppers to Asia, did not have such a profound effect on the environment, as bringing rabbits to Australia or possums to New Zealand. Especially the latter critter is the one with the bad rep for driving the kiwi to the brink of extinction.

The reason I mention this, is to highlight the fact that each species affects their new habitat differently. And as unfortunate as it may sound, older and less diverse environments (such as New Zealand) are prone to be affected more severely by change. By being omnivorous and not having any predators present, the possum enjoys a free-for-all with New Zealand's birds and plants. Ultimately, this is going to open up niches, to be filled by other species, but at the same time us humans can also do our part in reducing the population of the possum, we consider pests or invasive species.

Falling Off the Other Side of the Horse

Though it may seem like a laudable effort to kill off invasive species, today this has taken on extreme forms, determining nearly everything that was introduced in the past 150 years as invasive. And certainly, in New Zealand we can talk about a clear cut-off line, as the contact to the outside world had been previously sparse at the best. This makes it fairly easy to determine who's in and who's out. But imagine applying the same principle to say Great Britain. How far do you want to go back? To pre-colonial days? To the middle ages? To the times before the Roman conquest? Or all the way back before the Celts brought in cabbages and barley? (Besides, why would you wanna get rid of barley in the first place, no matter where in the world?)

Disregarding this apparent inconsistency, New Zealand environmentalists have adopted a nativist attitude, considering everything non-native as an invasive species. I have briefly mentioned the Australian magpie who has become the victim of numerous baseless accusations, simply for being from Australia (not uncommon in New Zealand, even though we're not talking about a sports team here). The fact of the matter is, that the magpie can't be compared to the possum in the way it affects its ecosystem.

Example of a Beneficial Immigrant: The Willow Tree

Just like the possum or the magpie, the willow tree is a recent arrival to New Zealand. Unlike these two animal species, the willow offers considerable benefit to the local ecosystem, mostly by preventing soil erosion, as well as capturing and holding water, and thus serving as an indispensable part of watershed maintenance and restoration in riparian ecology.

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Geographer, ecologist and multidisciplinary planer Haikai Tane addresses this issue in his book The Crucial Role of Willows in Sustainable River Management. In this book not only does he explain how the willow can do what no other New Zealand native plant can, but also talks about the nativist attitude of killing of everything that's not from here, which he compares to ideas applied to humans under eugenics or national socialism.

Hitting Close to Home: Environmentalists Killing My Mom's Trees

So after giving this background-discussion, let me go on with the issue closest at heart, namely my mom's cherry trees. Because what's happened here is majorly upsetting, and it can be traced back to nativist practices of the Whakatane council, trying to eradicate everything that is supposedly not supposed to be here.

Cherry trees are clearly non-native to New Zealand, even though they have been around here for ... who cares how long! The trees in and around my mom's garden were about 20-30 years old. They were a favored feeding ground for tuis and bellbirds in the flowering season, and kererus, blackbirds, and numerous other species in their fruit bearing season. Not to mention us humans, who also like a bowl of cherries sometimes, or just like to enjoy a Japanese style hanami under the pink blossoms.

Disregarding all this, the council sent out their goons to poison the entire flora of the adjacent valley, in order to kill off everything with glyphosate! Three cheers for nature right there!!! Supposedly, their reasoning was that everything that's native will grow back anyway (once the poison has been washed off into the waterways), while anything that's foreign won't. Unfortunately, however, this poison doesn't work like that, and in fact it affected a couple of trees inside the fence as well! Luckily, there are still a few cherry trees left, but that hardly makes up for the destructive principle employed by the Whakatane council. Worst of all, this is probably not an isolated case.

Regard Environmentalism Carefully

So even though my mom is focusing on her trees that survived the culling, I would like to point out that not everything that's done in the name of nature is actually something I agree with. Also, I am highly skeptical of the term "invasive species". I still think it's a good practice to ask ourselves: 1. What does it do? and 2. How well does it do it? in order to make a judgement about it. Just like most movements, environmentalism can also be hijacked by stupid people promoting stupid ideas. So it's best to be aware.