Foulden Maar: Difference between revisions

 

Some locals would like to see the area turned into a geo-park, along similar lines to other diatomite sites in Norway, Germany, and China.<ref name=":8" /><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.odt.co.nz/news/dunedin/helen-clark-joins-opposition-middlemarch-mine-proposal|title=Helen Clark joins opposition to Middlemarch mine proposal|last=Hartley|first=Simon|date=13 May 2019|work=[[Otago Daily Times]]|language=en|access-date=12 May 2019|archive-date=12 May 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190512221654/https://www.odt.co.nz/news/dunedin/helen-clark-joins-opposition-middlemarch-mine-proposal|url-status=live}}</ref> Former [[Prime Minister of New Zealand|Prime Minister]] [[Helen Clark]] suggested that the site could be protected as a scientific reserve under the [[Reserves Act 1977]],<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://twitter.com/HelenClarkNZ/status/1127158662911279104|title=A low value but very destructive proposed mining operation in #Otago NZ threatens a geologically significant site rich in fossils & of considerable scientific interest. Wondering: has it been considered for scientific reserve status under Reserves Act?https://www.newsroom.co.nz/2019/05/10/577063/dunedins-pompeii-to-be-mined-for-pig-food|last=Clark|first=Helen|date=11 May 2019|website=@HelenClarkNZ|language=en|access-date=12 May 2019|archive-date=12 May 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190512114410/https://twitter.com/helenclarknz/status/1127158662911279104|url-status=live}}</ref> saying "It just doesn't stack up. It's a question of values. Do we value knowledge? Do we value natural heritage? Do we value science and research, or do we just want to a quick dollar from a low value pit? I mean, really, it's distressing."<ref name="nr-14-04-19" /><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.newsroom.co.nz/2019/05/13/581997?slug=growing-opposition-to-fossil-mining|title=Opposition grows to fossil mining|date=13 May 2019|website=Newsroom|language=en-AU|access-date=12 May 2019|archive-date=9 February 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200209184651/https://www.newsroom.co.nz/2019/05/13/581997?slug=growing-opposition-to-fossil-mining|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="odt-14-05-19">{{Cite news|url=https://www.odt.co.nz/regions/central-otago/public-lacks-facts-about-mine-mp|title=Public lacks facts about mine: MP|last=Miller|first=Tim|date=14 May 2019|work=Otago Daily Times|access-date=14 May 2019|archive-date=18 October 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211018040259/https://www.odt.co.nz/news/dunedin/curran-frustrated-mine-delays-says-public-lacks-facts|url-status=live}}</ref> MP [[Clare Curran]] voiced support for the mining proposal, saying that she had been given assurances by Plaman.<ref name="odt-14-05-19" /> She argued that "misinformation" was abundant due to the slow overseas-investment-approval process and said that the resource-consent process would still need to be followed.<ref name="odt-14-05-19" /> Dunedin Mayor [[Dave Cull]], who wrote a letter of support for the mining proposal, has publicly called for clarification from Plaman after hearing details of the leaked Goldman Sachs report.<ref name=":10">{{Cite news|url=https://www.odt.co.nz/news/dunedin/dcc/mayor-wants-clarification-diatomite-mine-proposal|title=Mayor wants clarification on diatomite mine proposal|last=Miller|first=Tim|date=15 May 2019|work=[[Otago Daily Times]]|language=en|access-date=14 May 2019|archive-date=14 May 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190514220044/https://www.odt.co.nz/news/dunedin/dcc/mayor-wants-clarification-diatomite-mine-proposal|url-status=live}}</ref> [[Clutha District|Clutha]] Mayor Bryce Cadogan, who also supports the proposal, expressed frustration that commercial sensitivity prevented the release of all the information in favour of the mine.<ref name=":10" /> [[Dunedin City Council]] councillor [[Aaron Hawkins (politician)|Aaron Hawkins]] proposed that the council should "recognise the importance of Foulden Maar, and support its preservation, and protection as a scientific resource", and the council voted to do so, later formally opposing the mining proposal.<ref>*{{Cite news|url=https://www.odt.co.nz/news/dunedin/cr-bid-support-foulden-maar-preservation|title=Cr in bid to support Foulden Maar preservation|last=McPhee|first=Elena|date=18 May 2019|work=[[Otago Daily Times]]|language=en|access-date=17 May 2019|archive-date=17 May 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190517230632/https://www.odt.co.nz/news/dunedin/cr-bid-support-foulden-maar-preservation|url-status=live}}

 

[[Juliet Gerrard]], the Prime Minister's Chief Science Adviser, has said that "the tale is far from simple and at least two weak spots at the interface of science and policy are exposed as we dig through the complexities: there is no obvious point in central government to consider the value of a fossil record; and the science community has perhaps not previously sufficiently communicated the national and international value of this geological site."<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.pmcsa.ac.nz/2019/05/17/foulden-maar/|title=Foulden Maar|website=www.pmcsa.ac.nz|access-date=17 May 2019|archive-date=17 May 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190517080555/https://www.pmcsa.ac.nz/2019/05/17/foulden-maar/|url-status=live}}</ref> The [[Geoscience Society of New Zealand]] has called for the mining proposal to be stopped, with President Jennifer Eccles saying, "New Zealand’s national identity is strongly bound to its unique plants and animals. We cannot stand by and see this fountain of paleontological knowledge about where we have come from destroyed; particularly not for so little transient local and national gain."<ref name=":12">{{Cite web|url=https://docs.google.com/document/d/1JdayCIUB1e2j0-bYGqA4xL9MQXf-NFrLL_iX7uh49Zw/edit?usp=embed_facebook|title=GSNZ Release|website=Google Docs|language=en|access-date=17 May 2019|archive-date=18 October 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211018040305/https://docs.google.com/document/d/1JdayCIUB1e2j0-bYGqA4xL9MQXf-NFrLL_iX7uh49Zw/edit?usp=embed_facebook|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.odt.co.nz/news/dunedin/diatomite-promoter-hits-back|title=Diatomite promoter hits back|last=Miller|first=Tim|date=16 May 2019|work=[[Otago Daily Times]]|language=en|access-date=17 May 2019|archive-date=17 May 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190517080605/https://www.odt.co.nz/news/dunedin/diatomite-promoter-hits-back|url-status=live}}</ref>