The use of 1080 poison has been given a tick of approval from the Environmental Protection Authority.
The poison is used to control animal pests such as possums, rabbits, stoats and rats, and is spread annually over 400,000 – 500,000 hectares of land.
The use of 1080 often comes under fierce attack from critics who say it is cruel and can contaminate the natural environment.
But in a five yearly review, the EPA says there are fewer breaches of established procedures now than there used to be and the total amount of the poison used has fallen in that time.