Save Fiordland to Welcome Conservation Minister and Convey Message of Deep Concern for World Heritage Wilderness

Monday, 02 July 2012

Group and Fiordland community to greet Minister Kate Wilkinson Wednesday morning, during her visit to the region

As Save Fiordland continues to build a coalition of support that spreads nationwide and includes residents, business leaders, grassroots organisations, and political parties, the group is seizing a rare opportunity to express their passion and concerns in person, when Conservation Minister Kate Wilkinson makes a visit to the Fiordland region this week.

The Save Fiordland campaign is heating up, as the Minister has already announced her notice of intention to grant concessions for both the Milford Dart tunnel and Fiordland Link Experience monorail through the very heart of some of the world’s most pristine wilderness – recognized by UNESCO as the Te Wahipounamu World Heritage Wilderness Area. The granting of concessions to allow the destruction of large swathes of this highest-level wilderness, for nothing more than private operator access to shortcuts that are unwanted and unneeded, represents an unprecedented and incomprehensible abandonment by the Department of Conservation (DoC) of its most central duty – to preserve these special lands for New Zealanders and the rest of the world, for all times.

Save Fiordland intends to present the Minister with a special message and gift from the heart, from the people of Fiordland, at about 9:00am on Wednesday 04 July, on Lakefront Drive across from the DoC Visitor Centre in Te Anau, before she departs for Manapouri where she will travel to Doubtful Sound with the Fiordland Marine Guardians.
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