Our precious heritage

Aotearoa New Zealand is an evolutionary crucible – where giant forests, flightless birds, dinosaur descendents and a bird paradise developed in isolation. Glaciers and wild rivers have carved a magnificent landscapes onto our dynamic land and shaped the seafloor; volcanoes and centuries of rich forest have created fertile soils and seas that sustain us today.

We has a proud history of protecting our precious places and the creatures that inhabit them. Countless New Zealanders have fought long and hard to secure National Parks, other conservation areas, biodiversity and natural landscapes, some protection. It’s not perfect, but it’s pretty good.

Thanks to natural processes and the efforts of conservationists, New Zealand has a diverse and spectacular conservation estate. It is these natural and wild places that underpin the immensely valuable ‘clean green’ image that bring premium prices for our exports and our tourism industry’s highly successful “100% Pure” branding. Only a fool would consider damaging this golden goose.

Protection from mining

Mining has a history of destruction in our land, and continues to have the easiest consent regime for any development. Mining operations routinely get approved without public notification; breach consent rules at will; and take minerals for private gain with little or no return to our communities. Many mining permits still operate under long-discarded and environmentally-ignorant laws.

One ray of hope, however, is the list of prime conservation lands and waters that are off limits to mining – Schedule 4. It was created by a National Government in 1997 and has been kept intact since – until now. The new National Government is seeking to ‘unprotect’ these places. We cannot and will not stand idly by - take action now.