Punakaiki coastal restoration project: a partnership for closure and restoration of a mineral sands project site in New Zealand

摘要

Following its acquisition of North Ltd in 2000, Rio Tinto acquired 114 ha of coastal land at Punakaiki on New Zealand's South Island. Westland Ilmenite Ltd (WIL) had carried out pilot-scale mining and processing in the early 1990s but had concluded that mining would not be viable. The site had been in care and maintenance from 1994, and the plant and buildings were still present, but in poor condition. Though much of the land has been cleared for pasture, the area is of high conservation value. The site is located between the Paparoa National Park in the hills to the east and the coastal dunes, and it contains remnant coastal forest and wetlands and is adjacent to Nikau Scenic Reserve. The Paparoa National Park contains the only known breeding colonies of the vulnerable Westland Black Petrel, classified as Vulnerable in the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.