Protect our natural heritage

14 comments on “Protect our natural heritage ”

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1. mickysavage 1

   3 September 2009 at 3:00 pm

   It seems that I have happily signed a dozen petitions lately and I am happy to sign this one. They include such things as the idiot tree fell at will bill, Telecom’s treatment of its workers, night school, special education cuts, Paula Bennett’s use of private information to smear opponents and a few others.

   What can this mean?

   The proposal itself is complete idiocy. If they are not going to mine our parks and reserves then why spend precious money on performing a stock take.
2. ieuan 2

   3 September 2009 at 4:10 pm

   Why does it have to be ‘some foreign-owned companies’, have you not heard of the state owned mining company ‘Solid Energy’?

   Is it not possible to mine the land and return it to its natural state?

   And what percentage of conservation land would the government be looking at allowing mining on, 5%, 1%, .01%?

   Honestly from the reaction of most environmentalists you would think the government is proposing to open cast mine 100% of DOC land.
   • BLiP 2.1

     3 September 2009 at 4:54 pm

     And what percentage of conservation land would the government be looking at allowing mining on, 5%, 1%, .01%?

     Who said National Ltd were allowed to mine the National Parks at all? Did they seek election on that platform? Where’s the mandate to take away our property and give the profits from the resources therein to the corporations?

     To steal someone else’s argument, your logic can be applied to slavery. If I am 100 percent opposed to slavery, is it okay if it will affect only 0.01% of the populaton?
   • lprent 2.2

     4 September 2009 at 7:47 am

     Is it not possible to mine the land and return it to its natural state?

     As far as I can tell – yes… It is impossible within a human timescale. If you give it a couple of hundred years.

     Moreover, I’ve never seen a mining company make a serious attempt to do so.

     ..the state owned mining company ‘Solid Energy’?

     The ones that are prospecting in Happy Valley having evicted the local native snails to a fridge that they cannot get out of. When they transplant them elsewhere they die. Looks like another species being sent to extinction.

     For that matter Solid Energy have an appalling record of returning land to its natural state. The best they have managed to do is make it safe in the short-term.
   • Hands Off 2.3

     4 September 2009 at 11:30 am

     Have a look on Google Earth at Stockton or Macraes Flat. How long do you think it might take to return these areas to their natural state?
3. Pascal's bookie 3

   3 September 2009 at 4:30 pm

   “Why does it have to be ‘some foreign-owned companies’, have you not heard of the state owned mining company ‘Solid Energy’?”

   Doesn’t have to be, but chances are it will be, especially if it’s not coal they are digging up.

   Is it not possible to mine the land and return it to its natural state?

   No, by definition. What miners talk about is minimising the effects, and that should be done with all mining. The point of these reserves is to have land that is as unaffected as possible and mining cannot be done without affecting the land, water tables, waterways, habitats etc.

   And what percentage of conservation land would the government be looking at allowing mining on, 5%, 1%, .01%?

   Well, they are wanting to do a ‘stock take’ on all the lands. Obviously not all of it will be ‘worth’ mining, but once the principle is in place then what argument will there be against mining wherever a mine would be economically viable?
4. Steve 4

   3 September 2009 at 7:01 pm

   What a cute photo of an excavator loading a dump truck.
   12 year old from Otaki could have photoshopped it better.
   This land belongs to all of us, not just the tree huggers.
   BTW take that gold ring off and give it back to the LAND
   • mickysavage 4.1

     3 September 2009 at 8:49 pm

     FFS it is figurative and symbolic. Are you going to argue that it is not a real picture therefore the cause is wrong?
     • Outofbed 4.1.1

       3 September 2009 at 9:29 pm

       Being ” figurative and symbolic”
       Steve is that what you were doing, when you said
       “BTW take that gold ring off and give it back to the LAND” ?
       or vegetative and moronic?
5. graham 5

   3 September 2009 at 7:43 pm

   does this mean if 5% sign the petition that 95% are in favour of mining because that was sues view of the section 59 vote
   • BLiP 5.1

     3 September 2009 at 8:23 pm

     Yep. And three out of four New Zealanders make up 75 percent of the population. That’s statistics for ya.
6. Dean Reynolds 6

   3 September 2009 at 9:53 pm

   re IEUAN’s comment about ‘returning the land to it’s natural state’, he needs to visit Waihi & view the Martha Hill which has been completely hollowed out by a huge open cast mine, not to mention houses falling into sink holes as the water table drops.
7. George.com 7

   4 September 2009 at 6:54 am

   I am 1/2 way through a holiday around South America. A couple of days back I visited the Iguazu falls on the border of Argentina and Brazil. Amazing set of waterfalls set amidst a large national park. The park was intended to be much bigger than it was however over time 3/4 of it was eaten away by various development and farming. Only in the last decade or so have authorities on both sides made serious attempts to stabilise the size of the park and start plans to enlarge it. The falls are a world heritage and visited by over 1 million people every year. Likely 10 of thousands of people rely on the park, directly or indirectly, for their income. Both Argentina and Brazil are starting to get smart on how to make money from tourism to keep the national park and direct money from it into the development of other national parks.

   I walked around the park fairly smug that NZ was quite some way ahead in preserving our parks & environment. Seems not to be so. South America is working hard to retain and restore its natural habitats, we are dumb enough to be neading in the exact opposite direction?
8. marty mars 8

   4 September 2009 at 8:07 am

   “Dionysus rewarded King Midas by granting him one wish. The king thought for only a second and then said I wish for everything I touch to turn to gold.” And so it was.

   The beautiful flowers in his garden turned toward the sun for light, but when Midas approached and touched them, they stood rigid and gold. The king grew hungry and thin, for each time he tried to eat, he found that his meal had turned to gold. His lovely daughter, at his loving touch, turned hard and fast to gold. His water, his bed, his clothes, his friends, and eventually the whole palace was gold.”

   we have king minedust but still the pursuit of money above all else

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