The Department Of Conservation (DOC) says it could have been better at communicating with the public about the use of 1080 poison.
DOC Director General Al Morrison told Parliament's environment select committee today that DOC could have been better at communicating with "middle New Zealand" about the importance 1080 poison played in controlling the possum population.
DOC had focused too much on 1080 itself when it should have focused more on the affect it had on controlling possums, Mr Morrison said.
"We need to focus much more on forest health and its importance to our biodiversity, to our ecosystems and to our economy," he said.
While there were those that were ideologically opposed to 1080, which no amount of evidence could budge, there was a section of the public who wanted to "engage and listen to the arguments and make there own mind up", Mr Morrison said.
He said there had already been some improvements in the way DOC communicated with "middle New Zealand" and there were no indications that anti-1080 sentiment was growing.
DOC could have also made better decisions about signage and had failed to consider the impact "skull and cross bones" signs could have on tourism, he said.
Asked by Green MP Kevin Hague whether "commercial" goals had taken too much of a priority under the National Government, Mr Morrison said commercial goals and biodiversity were not mutually exclusive.
He said getting businesses involved in biodiversity and the importance it plays in our national "brand" would be positive for both commercial interests and biodiversity.
NZPA