ABSTRACT

In the past, successive New Zealand settlers and governments spent millions of pounds bringing in introduced species. Now New Zealand spends millions of dollars on removing introduced species. The reason for this reversal lies mainly in the massive ecological impacts of introductions. The reason why New Zealanders feel so strongly about this is also because of the close associations between nationalism and New Zealand’s flora and landscape that developed over the course of the 20th century. As the Department of Conservation (DOC), the government body responsible for managing conservation land, outlined to its incoming minister: ‘New Zealand’s indigenous biodiversity – our native species, their genetic diversity, and the habitats and ecosystems that support them – is of huge value to our economy, our quality of life, and our sense of identity as a nation’ (DOC, 2008).