|
|
Forest and Bird calls for
Mackenzie drylands park
Independent conservation organisation Forest & Bird welcomes the
announcement by the Environmental Defence Society that it has won a
High Court case challenging intensive dairy farming in the Mackenzie
Basin. Forest & Bird is calling on the Government to step up
protection of the Mackenzie’s threatened plants and animals and
iconic landscapes with a drylands conservation park.
“Threats to the Mackenzie Country aren’t just about cubicle
farming,” Forest & Bird Conservation Advocate Nicola Vallance says.
“We want the Government to come up with a national strategy to
protect this special wild landscape that belongs to all New
Zealanders.”
According to Official Information Act details Forest & Bird obtained
earlier this year, the Government plans to freehold more than 31,000
hectares of publicly owned land in the Mackenzie Basin. Currently,
leaseholders of Crown pastoral leases can graze sheep and beef
cattle on publicly owned land. If the land is freeholded there will
be little restraint on what they do, Ms Vallance says.
Why the Mackenzie Country is so special:
-
It is home to 68 species of
threatened and rare plants (and 40 per cent of Canterbury’s
threatened plants are found there).
-
The world’s rarest wading bird –
the endangered black stilt or kaki – is found only in the
Mackenzie Country, along with eight other threatened species of
birds.
-
High country tourism is worth $4
billion a year to the New Zealand economy.
|
.jpg)
