Save national parks for future - nature lovers

Future generations should be considered before the Government allows mining in national parks, conservationists say.

The Government is considering relaxing rules on access to conservation land to exploit the mineral wealth of South Island areas such as the Kahurangi, Paparoa and Fiordland national parks.

Environmentalists say this risks ruining them for short-term economic gain.

Fiordland Conservation Trust chairman Roger McNaughton said he was "not totally opposed" to access to some conservation land but would have "grave concerns" about mining in national parks.

"Some of our plans for national parks are for the next 10 years, but I think we really need to look a lot further," he said.

"I don't know if people are prepared to ask what we want in 100 years time. We have an obligation to preserve these areas for future generations," he said.

The Government is reviewing schedule 4 of the Crown Minerals Act, which protects 13 per cent of New Zealand's land from mining.

Forest & Bird South Island conservation manager Chris Todd said taking the protection away would "fly in the face" of the global perception of New Zealand as a conservation leader.

He took little comfort in Energy and Resources Minister Gerry Brownlee's comments that mining was likely to take place only on land of low conservation value.

"You've got to question why the Government wants to relax schedule 4 if that's the case. These are areas that thousands of New Zealanders have campaigned to have protected for years and years," he said.

Pete Lusk, of the Buller Conservation Group, said many of its members had spent their youth trying to get national parks established and protected from activities such as mining.

"[Reviewing schedule 4] is a big step backwards," he said.

"People have got to start thinking long-term. A coalmine might only be open for 10 years, and we need to be thinking thousands of years ahead."

The Waitutu area of Fiordland National Park has been identified as one place that could be exploited for its petroleum reserves. Forest & Bird said the Waitutu Forest was home to 29 threatened plant species and 25 endangered birds.

Ron Peacock, who co-owns the Fiordland Lodge, which provides accommodation and fishing expeditions for tourists, feared the effects mining would have on business.

"It's people's perceptions of what is happening," he said. "Even if there are measures in place to inhibit the impact, it is not a good look."

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