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Sustainable
eNews |
April 2003 |
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IWMC
World Conservation Trust |
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Wooly Tale weaves
Hope in New Zealand
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There is a bin full of good news from New Zealand
regarding their brushy tailed opossum fur industry. This beast is not
native to New Zealand, but was imported years ago from Australia. In New
Zealand, it has done tremendous ecological damage, eating native vegetation
to the roots. For awhile, people trapped or shot the invaders, and sold the
pelts on the international fur market. Then, unfortunately, the anti-fur
activist network decided to make use of the fact that most New Zealanders
are of British extraction, and of course we know, that the British have
always been vulnerable to the campaigns of animal rights extremists. Possum
trapping was for awhile, outlawed in New Zealand.
The subsequent lack of control led to an environmental problem of
increasing proportion, threatening the very existence of native species,
both faunal and floral. Common sense has now prevailed. New Zealand
legislators have changed the law, so that trapping is legal and actually,
encouraged. Until recently, the market for possum fur has seen wild swings
varying from high demand to no demand, so that trappers have seen an
unstable income situation, and many times, trapped animals have been
unsold, and left to rot. At times there was no financial incentive to
exploit this animal while it did vast damage to the countryside.
That situation has dramatically improved with the growing popularity of
a new technique for using the fur. Instead of always processing it on the
skin, in the traditional manner, some furriers have begun to knit it in the
manner of wool, treating it as a fabric instead of a leather-based product.
Although the animal rightists have felt extremely threatened by this,
screaming "Fur is Not a Fabric!", they have not prevailed. It is
a very attractive, light weight, warm fabric that is extremely
"environmentally friendly".
Now a New Zealand company, Basically Bush, has agreed to buy opossum fur
both on and off the pelt, to accommodate both kinds of market demand.
Basically Bush has signed contractual agreements with two supplier
companies, Snowy Peak and Woolyarns, so that trappers who are saving their
environment from this menace can now rely on steady year-round sales to
supplement their income. Snowy Peak and Woolyarns will buy product from the
trapper producers, and can rely on selling it all to Basically Bush, all
year round.
In this manner, two problems are solved. The environmental degradation
will be increasingly checked by year round trapping in a steady manner.
Trappers will be assured of a steady, reliable income. This is in contrast
to the wide fluctuations in supply and demand that previously characterized
the opossum control/trapping business, with waste of the
menace-turned-resource being common.
But there is even better news: The opossum fur business, now a $100
million dollar a year industry, is expected to reach $200 million soon,
thanks to the agreements within the industry, and to the technological
innovations of knitting the fur. New Zealand brushy tailed opossum
(formerly from Australia) has finally been transformed into a resource for
New Zealanders. They are all to be congratulated on solving their problem
in this innovative manner. Way to Go, New Zealand! 
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