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Environmental Defence Society calls on Prime Minister to clarify proposal to open conservation land to mining

The Environmental Defence Society (EDS) has responded to Energy Minister Gerry Brownlee's proposal to open Department of Conservation Land to mining by asking the Prime Minister to clarify the government's position.

"Last week Mr Brownlee announced a review of Schedule 4 of the Crown Minerals Act to identify land that could be removed from protected status and made available for mining," said EDS Chairman Gary Taylor.

"The problem with Mr Brownlee's proposal is that that 13% is the most ecologically valuable land in the country. That is why it is excluded from mining.

"The conservation estate is publically owned land and has been set aside for its conservation values. It is land where conservation values dominate absolutely. It is land that is at the core of our attractiveness as a tourist destination. And unlike mining, which is not a sustainable activity, tourism is perpetually renewable and returns around $20 billion to the New Zealand economy each year.

"It was noteworthy that Don Brash leapt into the fray and immediately endorsed Mr Brownlee's proposal. Dr Brash is heading a Productivity Taskforce for the Prime Minister. He likened our mineral wealth to that of Australia and argued for gold mining in the conservation estate. But there is no comparison between mining our most ecologically valuable public land and mining in the Australian desert.

"My concern is that areas like the currently protected conservation land on the Coromandel Peninsula could be opened up for mining. The tourism and conservation values of that area are such that that should never be allowed to happen.

"We seem to be headed back into an old 1980s debate that took 20 years to resolve. And with Dr Brash's liking for old-style, resource based economic growth, we see the emergence of a "Think Big" mindset. Surely the world has moved on and we need some forward-looking, modern, sustainable growth ideas to help build our economy.

"The land that is currently protected by Schedule 4 includes:-

• National parks

• Nature / scientific reserves

• Wilderness areas

• Marine reserves

• Wetlands notified under the Convention on Wetlands

• Otahu ecological area

• Parakowhai quarry ecological area

• DOC land on certain islands

• DOC land on certain areas of the Coromandel peninsula

• Certain specified marine reserves, national parks, wilderness areas and reserves

"EDS considers that Mr Brownlee's plans are badly conceived and we call on the Ministers of Conservation, Hon Tim Groser, and the Minister of Tourism, Prime Minister John Key, to intervene and explain how this approach could possibly be consistent with their portfolio interests.

"This is an idea that reflects badly on the government's commitment to progressive environmental policies and it should be dumped as soon as possible," Gary Taylor concluded.

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