Birds, bugs and plants: 1 Coal mine: 0

The great spotted kiwi was one of the endangered birds considered as the Government declined the coal mine application.

Preserving the natural environment of the great spotted kiwi, land snails and lizards was central to the decision to decline an application to mine coal on the West Coast.

The application for a 12-hectare mine near Te Kuha in the Buller District has been declined with the Government stating the economic benefit was not worth the irreparable damage.

Minister of Conservation Eugenie Sage and Minister of Energy and Resources Megan Woods announced the land would not be mined.

Rangitira Developments Ltd had applied to mine 12ha of public conservation land in the Mt Rochfort Conservation Area, near Te Kuha, as part of a large opencast coal mine.

Forest & Bird and the Department of Conservation had taken Rangitira Developments Ltd to the Environment Court over the application. The mine was estimated to provide about 60 jobs to the region.

The application was declined because the "irreparable damage to an area with very high, unique and nationally significant conservation values" outweighed the economic benefits.

"The Te Kuha area is one of the last two areas of intact, elevated Brunner coal measure ecosystems," Sage said.

"It is an undisturbed area which is precious and unique, and supports complex and diverse habitats for threatened plants and wildlife including great spotted kiwi, land snails and lizards."

Sage said the area was untouched and mining would cause irreversible damage.

"Under the Conservation Act, this land is held to preserve and protect its natural and historic resources. This application is inconsistent with that purpose."