No country for possums: young people's nativist views

• In Event: ESE in elementary schools: students' and teachers’ perspectives, emotions, and sense of place

Proposal

Abstract


This study is relevant to sustainability education because it uses the management of the Australian brushtail possum (Trichosurus vulpecula) through poisoning, shooting and/or trapping under the biosecurity/conservation system to show how young people’s understanding has been influenced by concepts related to ecological sustainability. The Australian brushtail possums are one of many animal species classified as alien under the biosecurity system in New Zealand. However, it is against the possums that a relentless campaign of eradication is perpetrated. This study set out to explain some of the many reasons behind such intense negativity; and in doing so, show a link between ecological restoration theory, nationalism, the management of invasive species as a biosecurity risk and student nativist views.



This study uses the ecological restoration theory. Ecological restoration is “an intentional activity that initiates or accelerates the recovery of an ecosystem” (Society for Ecological Restoration, 2002) and is an attempt to return an ecological system to some form of its original state (Margaret, Donald & Zedler, 2016; Bradshaw 1983, 1987; Towns, D., Broome, K., & Saunders, A, 2018). Ecological restoration has been widely used to right the wrongs of 200 years of colonialism in New Zealand. For example, eager to draft New Zealand into one of the many nations that could contribute towards the upkeep of the British Empire, early settlers brought with them a cacophony of plants, animals— many that quickly gained pestulous status, and ideas that severely transformed the New Zealand landscape, flora and fauna (Pawson & Brooking, 2002). A startling example is in the number of native and non-native plant species. New Zealand has approximately 2418 recorded native plant species in comparison to 2536 species of plants that have been classed as non-natives and naturalised in New Zealand (New Zealand Plant Conservation Network, 2012).

Nonetheless, ecological restoration has been highly successful in New Zealand in restoring both biodiversity and landscape. The ecological restoration strategy has been so successful that the New Zealand Government has not only commercialised the brand “ 100% Pure New Zealand” to market itself overseas but also set a goal of becoming predator free by the year 2050 (Key, 2016). A predator free New Zealand would be devoid of the most destructive introduced animals including possums that “threaten our nation’s natural taonga [treasure], our economy and primary sector” (Predator Free New Zealand, 2018).



The source of information for this paper was the New Zealand publics’ perceptions and knowledge of animals deemed invasive, alien and/or unwanted. This informed the choice to purposefully collect data from thirteen year old secondary school students to gauge their knowledge and perceptions of animals deemed invasive or unwanted in New Zealand. ‘Thick descriptive’ data was sought (Neuman, 2003) and thematic analysis (Braun & Clark, 2006) used to analyse data.



The research was exploratory so an interpretive mode of inquiry was adopted because it allowed the researcher to interpret meaning by finding relationships within data and linking them to students’ understanding. A qualitative methodology was employed because the aim of the research was to find out students’ knowledge of biosecurity. Hence a humanistic interpretive approach also called “thick descriptive” was taken so detailed descriptive data could be generated (Neuman, 2003). The researcher needed the participants to generate responses to questions about their knowledge of and understandings of biosecurity. This was achieved by using a questionnaire with open ended questions to collect qualitative data. The interpretive method allowed data to be both interpreted in a detailed way (thematic analysis) and give the reader a feel of how another person constructs their social reality. In this way, students’ knowledge of biosecurity could be revealed through the analysis of the questionnaire data.



A number of scholars have presented theoretical arguments about the link between ecological restoration practices and racism (Warren, 2007; Subarmanium, 2001; Peretti, 1998; Smout, 2003; O’Brien, 2006). In this study, data was presented to show that ecological restoration practices such as the biosecurity practice promotes nativism by desensitizing people through normalizing the use of the terms alien, exotic and unwanted used to describe animals and plants, and then extended to describing humans. The use of nativist language, for example, to frame the pure native species from the impure non-native species in New Zealand, has led students to believe that “immigrants”, “Australians” and “foreigners” are impure and thus responsible for bringing non-native animals into New Zealand.

Consequently, students believe that unwanted plants were brought into New Zealand because “immigrants wanted to sell them” or because they were “secretly shipped by foreigners”, or “secretly shipped by foreign countries”. It appears that students are trying to find a scapegoat, similar to how possums have become the scapegoat for all things bad (Potts, 2013). In this way, students see “over-stayers”, “tourists travelling to New Zealand”, “ people from different countries”, “people from other countries like Jamaica” and “people from overseas” as responsible for all things bad in New Zealand.

The results from this study are important because data shows a link between ecological restoration concepts such as biosecurity, and/or maintaining a sustainable biodiversity with xenophobia, and the fear of the ‘other’. Both these concepts need to be addressed in education in relation to conservation practices and the treatment of invasive animals. For example, the data shows that the treatment of possums in New Zealand is linked to jingoism. The politics associated with the management of invasive species must become part of teaching and learning. This could help young people develop an abstract understanding of environmental sustainability practices such as biosecurity and not get seduced by rhetoric that pits the survival of native species against a horde of alien, invasive, exotic and unwanted species.

Author

• Rajesh Ram, University of Auckland, Faculty of Education and Social Work