New Zealand Parliament Receives Petition to Protect Denniston Plateau

Forest & Bird, New Zealand’s leading environmental organization, is delivering a petition to Parliament in Wellington on behalf of more than 30,000 signatories. The petition calls for the Denniston Plateau on the South Island to be permanently protected as a scientific reserve, opposing a fast‑track mining application that would expand coal extraction across the area.

Campaign lead Scott Burnett highlighted the plateau’s unique ecosystems, including critically endangered Powelliphanta snails, unusual geckos, the great spotted kiwi, and the day‑flying Avatar moth, which he warned could face extinction if mining proceeds. The proposed Buller Plateaux Continuation Project would excavate about 1,300 hectares and remove roughly 20 million tonnes of coal over the next 25 years.

Under the Fast‑track Approvals Act, the project would bypasses public consultation despite much of the land being public conservation area. Forest & Bird and allied groups such as 350 Aotearoa and Coal Action Network Aotearoa expect to be invited to comment, arguing that the scale of the proposal demands robust scrutiny.