A land of frogs and gold
As the first reading of a mining bill approaches, the call for no new mines on conservation land grows louder.
Haere mai, welcome to Future Proof brought to you by Electric Kiwi.
On Monday I laced up my tramping boots and headed for the forest-cloaked hills behind Whangamatā on the Coromandel, where the Otahu river winds down a valley of kauri and ponga ferns. The Wharekirauponga track winds up the valley, tracing an old horse-drawn tram track.
Two locals from the Earthwatch Whangamatā group, Suzanne and Clive, along with Waihi photographer Stuart, had arranged the walk. Clive has walked nearly every inch of the valley over the last 30 years, watching kauri grow taller and gathering stories of historic logging and attempted gold mining. At one point we passed the remains of a stone hut, which Clive speculated was the bakery servicing the miners: “Maybe this is where they stopped to pick up a scone.”
As we neared the top of the track, I could hear a low, unnatural hum behind the rush of a waterfall: the sound of a generator, powering some part of exploratory gold mining operations. In the hills and steep ridges behind the waterfall, there are two helipads and 11 drill rig sites. A multinational mining company is proposing to build a 6.8km tunnel from nearby farmland underneath conservation land to access the gold here, spurring the latest episode in a long-running saga of mining vs the environment on the Coromandel.
Here, the clash hinges partially on the presence of critically endangered Archey’s frogs, which could be adversely affected by the vibrations of underground mining, among other impacts. We didn’t find any frogs – they are nocturnal and extraordinarily camouflaged – but they’re here.
No new mines?
The 2017 Speech from the Throne – the newly anointed Labour government’s vision – included a strong statement: that there would be no new mines on conservation land. Five years on, and the promise remains unfulfilled, leaving activists frustrated. Catherine Delahunty from Coromandel Watchdog wrote on The Spinoff this week about delivering a petition to parliament, requesting a moratorium on new mining activity, signed by 11,000 people. Nicola Toki of Forest & Bird reminisced on her first ever protest back in 2010, when 40,000 people – including Jacinda Ardern – marched down Queen Street to protest the then government’s plans to open national parks to mining.
This flurry of talk comes as MP Eugenie Sage’s Crown Minerals (Prohibition of Mining) Amendment Bill approaches its first reading, accompanied by indications it may not receive support from Labour. The fate of the frogs at Wharekirauponga – and any gold beneath it – remains uncertain.
What happens to the gold?
Before the Wharekirauponga sojourn, I stopped in Waihi to see the massive gaping hole that is the Martha Mine. I wondered what happens to the gold that is drilled from the depths of this truly gigantic pit. Gold is an essential component for some tech we use everyday: your smartphone contains a teensy bit of gold. But the vast majority of gold unearthed globally – around 90% – ends up in jewellery, as “investments” or squirrelled away in bank vaults. Perhaps we should mine banks, or old mobile phones, for gold instead.
Daylight savings is here and summer’s on its way!
If you have a swimming pool, there’s a good chance it’s to blame for around 10-20% of your overall power bill. Wouldn’t you rather ‘splash the cash’ on something else?
The Electric Kiwi MoveMaster plan is awesome because it rewards you for using electricity at off-peak times. This is great for saving cash but also sweet because your power is more likely to be coming from renewable sources. Win-win for the environment AND your budget.
It works out particularly well if you have a pool pump to run - check out what you could save.
The return of climate strikes
Last Friday, students took to the streets once again, calling for stronger, faster, better climate action. Stuff reporters met some of the multi-generational protestors in Christchurch, and collated a round-up of what went down at the Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch events. One protest spokesperson, 16-year-old Izzy Cook, suffered a particularly awful and lame “interview” where Heather du Plessis-Allan attempted to shame her for going on a family holiday to Fiji. Cook’s mum spoke out about her daughter’s treatment, and fellow School Strike for Climate alum Mia Sutherland has also penned a piece in solidarity. “Climate action is a power struggle, and those in power will always fight back,” Sutherland writes.
The urgent need for more optimism (and less doomerism)
We need to become “impatient optimists” to drive progress on global challenges, argues Dr Hannah Ritchie, head of research at Our World in Data. “Optimists are the ones that move us forward,” she writes. “They are the innovators, the entrepreneurs, the ones willing to put their reputation, money, and time on the line because they see an opportunity to solve a problem.” I could feel the pessimism melting away reading this piece, and highly recommend a squizz if you’re in a cynical funk.
$5m to help New Zealand catch up on best-practice plastic recycling
The government is putting $5 million towards projects aimed at reducing plastic waste – stuff like biodegradable plant pots and recycled pipes, writes RNZ reporter Jonty Dine. This includes a significant chunk to develop a regulated plastic packaging product stewardship scheme. The scheme would require plastic packaging makers, sellers and users to take responsibility for collecting and dealing with plastic packaging post-use, Anna Whyte reports for 1News.
In recycling news from further afield, Knowable Magazine investigates electric vehicle battery recycling efforts in the US. If start-ups can develop cost-effective ways of recycling essential minerals from batteries, we may not need to dig up as many through destructive mining.
Confronting our problem with ‘fast fashion’
We buy 60 million tonnes of clothing every year, and more than 50 billion individual garments are discarded within a year of being manufactured. It’s horrifying stuff – and an editorial in the scientific journal Nature is calling on researchers to tackle this head-on, through efforts to improve recycling and drawing on social science insights on how to change consumer behaviour.
Meanwhile, the global secondhand apparel market is predicted to grow by 127% by 2026, according to ThredUp’s 2022 Resale Report. This report also finds that 62% of Millennials and Gen Z will look for an item secondhand before purchasing new, and that they’re spending a larger proportion of their apparel purchases secondhand compared to five years ago.
The Spinoff is powered by the generous support of our members. If you value our work and want to support what we do, please consider joining up. There is no minimum to donate and every contribution is dedicated to funding our journalism and keeping it free for all. You’ll also gain a bunch of exclusive perks, such as access to events, a world version of The Bulletin written by Peter Bale, reduced advertising and more. Join today!
More stories:
As the planet warms, termites might move into new regions, chew more wood, and release more carbon – like “tiny cows” – new research says.
A new book celebrates the life and work of Auckland’s bird lady Sylvia Durrant, who cared for thousands of injured and lost birds over 35 years.
Meet the scientists studying New Zealand’s weird, wonderful and rare orchids in a tiny cottage in Wellington’s Ōtari-Wilton Bush.
This landscape engineer wants to uncover Auckland’s streams and waterways that have been paved over and constricted in channels over the past 150 years – like the awa hidden beneath Queen Street.
It was World Car Free Day last week, and Dunedin’s Taylor Davies-Colley walked 23km to work.
Synthetic nitrogen fertilisers account for more than 2% of global greenhouse gas emissions, according to new research.
Government funding for wilding pine control is being cut from $25m to $10m per year, Joanna Grigg reports for Farmers Weekly.
To finish this edition, a threatened plant species that once saved the crew of Captain Cook’s Endeavour has made a return to Wellington – with a little help from the team at Ōtari-Wilton’s Bush. Cook’s scurvy grass/nau, classified as nationally endangered, was locally extinct in Wellington city. Last week, 100 seedlings were planted among kororā nest boxes (apparently the grass loves a bit of seabird poo fertiliser!). Cook’s scurvy grass is high in vitamin C, so it was useful for staving off scurvy among long-distance voyagers. Today, it’s threatened by a lack of guano-rich soils, as well as the fact it is very tasty – livestock, rats and cabbage white butterflies all like to eat it. Kia kaha, little seedlings!
Grow well,
Ellen
Got some feedback about Future Proof or topics you’d like covered? Get in touch with me at futureproof@thespinoff.co.nz
