We at CANA are concerned that the official panel, currently reclassifying the DOC stewardship land on the West Coast, is recommending too low a level of protection (“Conservation Park”) for this magical landscape, some of which has already been lost to opencast coal mining.

NB: The Minerals Council has stated that a “Conservation Park” classification will still allow mining!

More information is available on the petition site – please sign – and share with your friends.

We have until 26 July to make our final submissions.

The post Help Save the Denniston Plateau! appeared first on Coal Action Network Aotearoa.

Thank you to everyone who signed the petition asking Ministers Sage and Woods to say “no” to granting coal miners access to despoil DoC land in their rapacious greed for coal.

Thank you to everyone who has contributed to CANA’s appeal for funds to help us assist Forest and Bird in their Environment Court appeal against the decision to grant resource consent for Te Kuha by providing an expert economic witness to argue against the mine on economic grounds.

Te Kuha Appeal Update

We have raised well over $4000 from this appeal, but we need plenty more. If you can contribute to help us pay the costs of our expert witness, please do so here:

Coal Action Network Aotearoa
(Kiwibank) 38 9011 0484435 00

It’s 2018; we shouldn’t need to be still doing this! But we will, for as long as it takes. Every dollar donated is a dollar spent at the coal face of ending fossil fuel extraction in Aotearoa. With your help we will stop this mine.

Te Kuha Petition Presentation

The petition to Ministers Wood and Sage was presented to MPs Kiritapu Allan (Labour) and Gareth Hughes (Greens) by representatives from 350 Aotearoa and CANA, together with Forest and Bird, on Tuesday 20 March. You can watch 350 Aotearoa’s stream of the presentation here:

https://twitter.com/350nz/status/975880267410718720

Now the ball is in the Government’s court.

We’ve heard a lot of great talk from the Prime Minister and her Cabinet about their determination to act on climate change. The climate doesn’t respond to words – it responds to actions. Te Kuha provides an early test of whether this Government is prepared to act to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

The post Te Kuha Update: Petition Presented, Appeal Continues! appeared first on Coal Action Network Aotearoa.

The Buller District Council has just granted resource consent for Te Kuha mine, a 109 hectare opencast coal mine on the West Coast, but the government has yet to decide whether to allow the miners to take the top off the mountain – the 12 hectares that are part of the Mt Rochfort Conservation Park.

The Department of Conservation has stated that this area is “recognised as nationally and internationally unique and for having very high ecological and conservation value.” It contains Great Spotted Kiwi and other rare and endangered species and plants.

At a time when our government is claiming that climate change is our generation’s “nuclear-free moment,”  and has recently said that there will be no new coal mines on conservation land, it must say no to this mountaintop removal.  Without access to this precious DOC land, the mine is unlikely to go ahead.

Hon Dr Megan Woods (Minister of Energy and Resources) and Hon Eugenie Sage (Minister of Conservation), have the power to stop this mine.

Call on Megan Woods and Eugenie Sage to live up to their words, and pull the plug on this dirty and short-sighted project. Sign the petition here:

https://actionnetwork.org/petitions/stop-te-kuha-coal-mine

The post Sign The Petition: Stop Te Kuha Coalmine appeared first on Coal Action Network Aotearoa.