Karangahake locals send a creative message to Conservation Minister Maggie Barry

If Conservation Minister Maggie Barry went for a hike in the Karangahake Gorge today she might just come across a large picture of her own face, stencilled across the gate to a mine site, following a creative anti-mining protest by local Karangahake artists this morning.

Conservation Minister Maggie Barry stated in Parliament on 8th August that the New Talisman mine site was only a temporary closure to 9th September.

Locals say they are upset that the Conservation Minister has no idea what her department is doing on the ground, as New Talisman haven’t left Karangahake Mountain.

To voice their disgust with the conservation minister’s misleading statements, locals took to the gate of the mine site early this morning, supported by conservation advocacy group Enjoy Not Destroy, to stencil on the giant picture.

Enjoy Not Destroy Spokesperson Holly Dove says this mornings’ actions were a combined effort with locals to draw attention to a wider campaign to protect conservation lands across New Zealand.

“What’s happening in Karangahake is setting a terrifying precedent for the rest of the country,” Dove says.

“You could call Maggie Barry the Minister against conservation, because this is essentially what she’s doing. This is a blatant coupling of industry with the Department of Conservation, and the result is scary; that a place so beautiful, like Karangahake, which attracts millions of tourist dollars to the local community every year, with precious wildlife and ecology, could be turned over to the hands of a private mining firm is beyond comprehension.”

Karangahake local and mother Jess Holdaway says the community has had enough of mining company rights being put ahead of the protection of conservation land.

“How long does this go on for? At first the Minister said the closure would be ‘till September, and now we have another year ahead of us - we’ve all had enough! Karangahake is outright opposed to mining on the mountain, and we’re putting in an enormous amount of energy defending it.”

“How can we trust this minister to look after our conservation lands when she blatantly misleads the public?”

“We want our community back to the way it was - where we treasured and protected our forests and rivers, instead of destroying them,” Holdaway says.

Industrial mining, proposed by private company New Talisman Gold Mines, has been on the cards for the Karangahake Gorge, an iconic local heritage and conservation area, since the Department of Conservation gave its blessing to “enter and operate” in 2014. Prospecting began in June earlier this year and the site has since played host to a multitude of protests by the local community who are opposed to mining on the mountain.

“We need our precious and wild places in New Zealand to be protected - this is what conservation land has always been, and how it needs to stay,” Holdaway says.

For more info -

enjoynotdestroy@gmail.com

enjoynotdestroy.nz/

ENDS

Enjoy Not Destroy are a collective of people and communities who want to restore the integrity of conservation land throughout Aotearoa New Zealand. You can find out more about us on our website.

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