Resources Minister Gerry Brownlee finally got his Review of Schedule 4 conservation lands report out into the open this week after weeks of Cabinet indecision about the politics of the proposals, which were beginning to fester because of the delay. The review estimates NZ’s mineral wealth, excluding hydrocarbons, at $194bn, and proposes removing just over 7sq/km of protected lands under Schedule 4 of the Crown Minerals Act, and the inclusion of an extra 12.4sq/km of new conservation lands under Schedule 4.

A nine month, $4m prospecting programme will be conducted across a further range of possible mineral extraction sites in another 10 areas of protected conservation land. This raises the prospect of further land being removed from Schedule 4 in the future. DoC will also in the next two months produce a nationally consistent process for applying to extract minerals on conservation land, and is working as part of the Resource Management Act phase 2 reforms on a new process which would allow resource consents and mining applications to be heard together. A new conservation fund using up to 50% of annual non-hydrocarbon royalties from conservation land mining, with an annual cap of $10m, is also to be introduced to help fund environmental initiatives.

- – -NOT A SUBSCRIBER? – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - –

NZ’S LEADING INFORMATION SOURCE FOR ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION OF THE CRUCIAL ENERGY AND ENVIRONMENT ISSUES AHEAD.

NEW ZEALAND ENERGY & ENVIRONMENT BUSINESS WEEK
Powerful and up-to-date, it covers Emissions Trading Scheme, Climate Change & Carbon Trading, the Resource Management Act, the Kyoto Protocol, Energy Supply Security, Electricity Generation, Renewable Energy, Oil & Gas Exploration, Energy Efficiency, Water Management, Sustainability. Covers policy announcements, draft legislation, amendments to Acts and regulations. Also includes NZ Energy & Environment Weekly Digest. Published every Tuesday. 46 issues per year.

http://nzenergy-environment.co.nz/home/special-introductory-offer
- – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – -

Immediately slated for removal from Schedule 4 are: seven areas on Coromandel Peninsula (2.6 sq km); 0.7 sq km of Te Ahumata Peninsula on Great Barrier Island; 0.4 sq km of the Otahu Ecological Area and 68 hectares in the Pakawai Ecological Area, both at the base of the Coromandel; and 3.3 sq km of the Inangahua sector of Paparoa National Park, on the West Coast. Further examination will occur in Northland, on other public conservation lands in Coromandel, the southern Coromandel volcanic zone, parts of the central North Island, the Median Batholith, including parts of Rakiura Stewart Island National Park, the Dun Mountain Ophiolite Belt, the Tapuaenuku complex near Kaikoura, carbonatite rocks north of Haast River, South Island areas potentially bearing mesothermal golds, and the Longwood complex in Southland.

Scheduled for inclusion in Schedule 4 are areas of Abel Tasman National Park, Burwood Bush, parts of Egmont National Park, Horoirangi Marine Reserve near Nelson, Ianthe Scenic Reserve, Kaikoura Island scenic reserve, Orokonui Nature Reserve, parts of Paparoa National Park, northern Taranaki’s Parininihi marine reserve, Rakitu Island reserve, Tapuae Marine Reserve near New Plymouth, and the Wellington south coast marine reserve, Taputarenga.

 Copyright © Media Information Ltd
NZ Energy & Environment Business Week