Jacinda Ardern’s gift to Joe Biden has been called ‘appalling’ – with New Zealand PM coming under fire for showing ‘lack of care’
- Jacinda Ardern’s gift to Joe Biden called ‘appalling’ by environmentalists
- The New Zealand Prime Minister presented the US President with a cowrie shell – harvested from up to 60,000 old trees
- Harvesting the trees from wetlands and sacred sites can be destructive
- The manufacturer has faced legal action for exporting kauri to China
Jacinda ArdernThe gift given to US President Joe Biden has been called “appalling” by environmentalists, who say the prime minister has shown a “lack of care”.
That New Zealand The leader brought the US President a swamp kauri bowl made of glazed wood harvested from trees buried for up to 60,000 years in peat swamps on the country’s North Island.
The head of the Northland Environmental Protection Society slammed the “faux pas”, saying Ms Ardern should not have encouraged the replacement of native plants and the damage the extraction process is causing to the ecosystem.
“We really don’t like swamp kauri, given as a gift to America of all things. It is shocking after all the work we have done to protect these wetlands that produce the marsh kauri,” said Chair Fiona Furrell RNZ.
Jacinda Ardern’s gift to Prime Minister Joe Biden has been called “appalling” by environmentalists who say the PM has shown a “lack of care”.
Mr Biden received a cowrie shell – a piece of wood harvested from trees submerged in wetlands for up to 60,000 years
The kauri trees are commonly found in wetlands and culturally important sites that can be damaged or destroyed during milling.
In 2018, a New Zealand Supreme Court ruling found that in order to be lawfully exported, a swamp kauri item must be a product in itself and in its final or kit set form and either for use or incorporation into a product must be prepared larger structure.
To make matters worse, Ms Ardern’s office confirmed the government bought the Kauri bowl through businessman Nelson Parker, who was under investigation in 2019 for exporting timber products to China.
The court found Mr Parker likely to have violated the Forestry Act when he exported a large Kauri log arrangement and called it art.
He was not prosecuted because the maker was originally told the kauri was compliant, despite having done little work to replace it from raw wood.
The kauri trees are commonly found in wetlands and culturally important sites that can be damaged or destroyed during milling
Ms Furrell said Ms Ardern should “do a lot more research” before offering such divisive gifts and that her behavior was “not moral”.
“So any use of swamp kauri that is offered by our government is putting our wetlands at risk because people now want more swamp kauri,” Furrell said.
‘He [Biden] could make the decision himself. Perhaps it could be returned to New Zealand.’
In a response, Mr Parker said anyone questioning the Prime Minister’s gift was a “parasite” and said it was “rude” to question their motives.
Ms Furrell said Ms Ardern should “do a lot more research” before offering such divisive gifts and that her behavior was “not moral”.
“To think that people, someone, out of the goodness of their hearts, can give someone a gift and then someone comes after them and says, ‘Well, that’s wrong, it’s illegal, it’s immoral,’ or whatever they say. To me, that actually shows the quality of the people,” he said.
“To be perfectly blunt, I think these people will probably be listed as zero as far as I’m concerned.
“I can describe these people to you pretty well, they probably don’t do anything. They are parasites. As far as I’m concerned, if they want to interfere with what we’re doing, well, it’s not wise to do that.’
