Thousands
of people across Aotearoa have taken part in a nationwide
day of action today, calling on the Coalition Government to
keep its hands off public conservation land and throw out
the Conservation Amendment Bill.
More than 35 protests
took place across the country, coordinated by Greenpeace and
organised by local communities from Invercargill all the way
up to Aotea Great Barrier Island.
Greenpeace
campaigner Gen Toop says the scale of the
mobilisation reflects how strongly New Zealanders feel about
protecting public conservation land.
“New Zealanders
are fed up with this Coalition Government’s attempt to
exploit and degrade public conservation land. These are the
places where we go camping, tramping, hunting or fishing,
and they are places that we love deeply.
“The
Conservation Amendment Bill is rotten to its core. It opens
the door to more mining, more commercial exploitation and
degradation of the wildlife and places we all
love.”
“Today, thousands of people, from all walks of
life, have taken to parks, forests, rivers, and town
centres, to demonstrate their opposition to the Bill and to
tell the Government to keep its hands off public
conservation land.”
The Conservation Amendment Bill
proposes to change the purpose of the Conservation Act from
protecting nature to enabling commercial exploitation “to
the greatest extent practicable. It originally proposed
making it easier to sell off around 5 million hectares of
public conservation land, before the Government backed down
and committed to removing those provisions.
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Organisers
at more than 35 protests across the country took action with
their communities – from creating giant driftwood messages
riverbanks, holding rallies in public parks and flying
banners in conservation areas.
Speaking from
the Coromandel protest, Catherine Delahunty, Chair of
Coromandel Watchdog of Hauraki, said, “Our
community is participating in the national day of action to
protect conservation land because the last thing we need is
more development in our forests. We already have mining
companies preparing for toxic gold mining on this land and
the Conservation Amendment Bill is the last
straw.
“Today our people are rallying in the Wentworth
Valley against Rua Gold mining plans and some are also
protesting Shane Jones who will be in Thames at 2pm. We must
protect the forests, not the greed of multinational
miners.”
Greenpeace’s Gen Toop says
this is just the beginning.
“Public conservation land
exists today because generations of New Zealanders have
cared for it and fought to protect it. Today showed that
people across Aotearoa are ready to do that
again.”
“We know we have a responsibility to leave
these places as wild and beautiful for the wildlife that
depends on them, and for the generations who come after
us.”
“In a month’s time, people will come together in
Auckland to March for Nature. The Coalition Government’s war
on nature cannot continue. It must bin the Conservation
Amendment Bill, stop dismantling environmental protections
and start protecting nature for generations to
come.”
