The essence of this policy will be based on the principles of ‘awareness’, ‘balance’ and ‘community’.
1. Earth’s aquatic Deadzones: Look at this map. New Zealand has the largest ‘deadzone’ in the southern hemiphere. The size and number of marine dead zones—areas where the deep water is so low in dissolved oxygen that sea creatures can’t survive—have grown explosively in the past half-century. Red circles on this map show the location and size of many of our planet’s dead zones. Black dots show where dead zones have been observed, but their size is unknown. New Zealand’s dead zone looks to be the result of dairy run off. The dairy industry needs to be legally required to clean up their act!
2. Our Rivers are Dying
“Once the greatest threat from our rivers and streams was accidental drowning. How things have changed. These days you are more likely to die from drinking the water.
At UNITEC’s Carrington Campus students and staff have observed that all is not well with the sacred Wairaka Spring. Some see the sacred spring being polluted by chemical poisons, toxic wastes and invasive weeds. Others treat it as a drain. The once pure waters of the Wairaka Stream are now te waimate, very unhealthy and probably poisonous in places.
No longer do our waterways produce clean, fresh water, suitable for drinking, cleaning and bathing. Now they produce “raw” water unfit for human consumption, ritual cleansing or body contact. Pesticides and pathogens, urban effluents and agricultural nutrients are poisoning our waterways. Mostly going unnoticed, countless millions of minor offences are gradually turning our streams, rivers and lakes into environmental health hazards. Viewed from a Pacific cultural perspective, our rivers and streams are slowly dying.
In traditional Pacific societies where environmental systems were commonly shared and protected through customary practices akin to modern condominium title, living waters were protected by mythological guardians and treated with due respect by all “or else”. These cultural practices were misconstrued by colonial missionaries to be the pagan beliefs of uncivilised peoples. Consequently, strenuous efforts were made to replace the indigenous “animist” water models entirely ~ with European concepts of private property and “professional scientific” management.
This proved no easy task for cultural myths and legends are usually more durable than those of science and technology. It took two hundred years to superimpose science as the only “knowledge” really considered, that is until the Resource Management Act 1989 imposed consideration of wairua and consultation with local iwi. Historically, traditional myths and legends reflecting cultural and spiritual knowledge received mere lip service on formal occasions”. Haikai Tane http://www.watershed.net.nz/living_waters.htm
3 .Fluoride is neither a nutrient nor essential to health. Fluoride deficiency does not lead to tooth decay. Poor diet causes cavities and fluoride can’t fix a poor diet. Fluoride is harmful to your health.
4. For more on Fluoride go to http://old.theawarenessparty.com/?page_id=1720
5. Auckland’s water could be privatised by 2013. Penny Bright explains why that is not a good idea.
