By Kate R.
Posted on March 16, 2010. Listed in:
The Government’s assurances of "boutique", "surgical" mining in areas with low conservation value seem to have disappeared down a mine shaft, says Greenpeace.
Forest and Bird have released information on the areas the Government intends to open up to mining, which include: Great Barrier Island, Coromandel Peninsula and Paparoa National Park.
A Greenpeace press release stated that:
"This is a huge blow to New Zealand's clean green values and brand, and another example of the dangerous direction in which this Government is heading in terms of environmental management. It’s a rip shit and bust mentality which is out of step with the rest of the world.
"There's no way these areas could be considered low conservation value and there's no way the minerals sought will be mined by anything other than highly destructive mining techniques like open-pit mining,” said Greenpeace Political Advisor Geoff Keey.
"Mining these areas would increase New Zealand's already very high greenhouse gas emissions because of the massive amount of fossil fuels needed for the kinds of mining required.
Following the announcement yesterday, Senior Lecturer in Economic and Public Policy, Cath Wallace gave an interview on One News last night, which can be viewed here.
She suggested that mining would have long-lasting and damaging effects on the landscape, and that it would be almost impossible to completely mitigate the negative environmental effects of the mining operations.
Although Prime Minister John Key has been downplaying the plans and chastising environmental groups, like Forest and Bird for 'scaremongering', Wallace stated that any mining is detrimental to the land and could have serious environmental repercussions.
According to Geoff Keey, of Greenpeace: “New Zealanders will be furious over this. Focus groups and polling has clearly shown New Zealanders don’t support these proposals. They will have every right to feel angry and betrayed."
However, during a RadioNZ interview John Key said that from the paperwork he had seen so far he was confident that the balance between the economy and environment was in the right place.
A discussion document is likely to be released within a few weeks that will look at all of the conservation estate, not just land protected under Shcedule Four of the Crown Minerals Act.
Read more great stories on Celsias:
A Letter to the Minister of Conservation
Sources: Greenpeace, RadioNZ, TVNZ
Image: Photo two courtesy of The Standard.org
