DoC joins fight for Kaimaumau wetland

DoC has joined Forest & Bird in its fight to stop Kaimaumau wetland (above) from being mined.

The Department of Conservation has sided with Forest & Bird in a bid to protect a significant Far North wetland from being mined without public notification — to the delight of Forest & Bird.

The organisation filed a High Court application last month in a bid to overturn resource consents issued by the Northland Regional Council to Resin and Wax Holdings Ltd to extract kauri resin and from peat over 404ha of the Kaimaumau wetland, west of Rangaunu Harbour.

Forest & Bird noted that the council resolved to limit input to the consent process from the public and relevant entities such as DoC, despite the area's assessment as the second most important wetland in Northland, with internationally significant wildlife habitat.

On Tuesday the director-general of Conservation filed an application challenging the same notification and consent decisions.

"We are absolutely thrilled to see DoC challenge these atrocious decisions," Forest & Bird lawyer Sally Gepp said.

"DoC's call to bring legal proceedings will not have been taken lightly, and we commend (the department) for taking this bold step. It is entirely in line with DoC's role under the Conservation Act to advocate for New Zealand's natural resources in this way."

Wetlands were a highly threatened ecosystem type throughout the country, she added. It was estimated that nationally only 10 per cent of pre-human wetlands remained; in Northland the figure was 5 per cent.

Kaimaumau was a stronghold for the fernbird and was known to be home to rare orchids and other threatened plants. Native mudfish and eels had been found in its waterways, which qualified most of the wetland, including much of the area to be mined, as a Significant Natural Area.