Mining threatens New Zealand's national bird."Clean and Green" New Zealand New Zealand (zē`lənd), island country (2005 est. pop. 4,035,000), 104,454 sq mi (270,534 sq km), in the S Pacific Ocean, over 1,000 mi (1,600 km) SE of Australia. The capital is Wellington; the largest city and leading port is Auckland. struggles with many contradictions, including high cancer rates (see "Clean and Green New Zealand is a Study in Environmental Contrasts," May/June 2003). Today, New Zealand's endangered en·dan·gertr.v. en·dan·gered, en·dan·ger·ing, en·dan·gers 1. To expose to harm or danger; imperil. 2. To threaten with extinction. national bird, the kiwi kiwi (kē`wē) or apteryx (ăp`tərĭks), common name for the smallest member of an order of primitive flightless birds related to the ostrich, the emu, and the cassowary. , is facing further peril. A state-owned mining company, Solid Energy Coals, plans to construct a new open-pit coal mine, which environmental groups say will destroy kiwi habitat. "Strangely, the New Zealand government is funding both kiwi restoration projects and coal mining which is destroying prime kiwi habitat," said the group Ecological Internet. The Cypress Opencast adj. 1. same as opencut. Adj. 1. opencast - (of mines and mining) worked from the exposed surface; "opencast mining"; "an opencut iron mine" opencut mining, excavation - the act of extracting ores or coal etc from the earth Mine, approved for New Zealand's west coast in a court decision last May, is also said to be home to a rare land snail (Zool.) any snail which lives on land, as distinguished from the aquatic snails are Pulmonifera, and belong to the Geophila; but the operculated land snails of warm countries are Diœcia, and belong to the Tænioglossa. See Geophila, and Helix. See also: Land . Solid Energy says it will provide appropriate kiwi protection during the 30-year life of the mine. Forest and Bird society field officer Eugenie Sage says, "We don't share the court's confidence in Solid Energy," citing the company's poor environmental track record. Solid Energy lost its bid to recover $379,000 (NZ) from environmental groups. CONTACT: Ecological Internet, (011)920-776-1075, http://forests.org; Forest and Bird, www.forestandbird.org.nz. |
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