Land and water are being poisoned by 1080 and the Government needs to seriously consider running a large scale trapping programme as an alternative, says the Maori Party.

"The use of 1080 is causing damage to our land, rivers and lakes and that should be reason enough for the Government to find another way," Maori Party conservation spokesperson Te Ururoa Flavell said in response to the Prime Minister's statement yesterday that there was "no other alternative."

"Using people to trap pests is an idea we are looking at as it would keep our land, rivers and lakes safe for future generations and there would be economic, employment and training spin-offs as well, particularly for unemployed Maori."

Mr Flavell said some people were already trapping, but that it was not being done on the large-scale that was needed.

Tariana Turia, MP for Te Tai Hauauru, was particularly annoyed to hear of the recent incident where 1080 pellets were dropped on Maunga Taranaki where contractors were trapping at the time.

"Maunga Taranaki is sacred to my constituents so you can imagine their anguish when they heard that poison had been dropped on the head of their ancestor."

Mrs Turia said there was high demand overseas for possum fur and skin, and that the Government could look at this as a way of subsidising a large-scale trapping programme and generating tax revenue from an industry that had not been tapped into.

"The Government needs to start doing its maths. There are about 70 million possums in this country and their fur alone is worth about $5 each," she said.

The Maori Party had plans to talk with the ministers for conservation and social development and employment about the trapping idea.

It was one of the Maori Party policies to have a moratorium on 1080 drops.