Coromandel Watchdog has a petition which asks the government to place an immediate moratorium on accepting any applications for and any further processing or granting of any prospecting, exploration or mining permits on, in or under public conservation land in Aotearoa New Zealand, including stewardship land, administered by the Department of Conservation under the Conservation Act. 

In 2017, the government made a commitment to having no new mines on conservation land. However, since then, numerous permits for mining related activity have been granted.

A moratorium would ensure that the question of stewardship land can be considered carefully to ensure that any policy is robust in protecting all conservation land, while not sacrificing some of our most significant areas to mining while the policy is being finalised.

Image: Coromandel Watchdog