Global environmental network protests proposed mining

The New Zealand branch of a global environmental initiative has protested the prospect of mining of protected lands in New Zealand.

The International Union for Conservation of Nature New Zealand Committee (IUCNNZ) made a submission this week in response to the idea of removing 7000 hectares of conservation land from protected status under the Crown Minerals Act.

Submissions on the Government's controversial discussion paper close this Wednesday.

The organization's New Zealand branch sent a letter to Government, saying that the country had been able to 'hold its head high' within the union, because it had, for so long, managed to prevent New Zealand's protected land from being mined.

Some 40,000 people protested the proposal in Auckland last month.