Fears for critically endangered fairy tern near Auckland sand mining site

Friday, 21 May 2021

Watch Department of Conservation staff return critically endangered fairy tern eggs to their nest after a storm in Mangawhai during the 2020 breeding season.

A group is calling for authorities to end sand mining offshore an Auckland beach which is home to the critically endangered tara iti (New Zealand fairy tern).

Kaipara Limited, a company involved with quarrying, mining and infrastructure development, has applied for resource consent to continue extracting sand from an offshore coastal marine area near Pākiri, on the east coast about 78 kilometres north of the Auckland CBD.

Sand has been taken from the Pākiri area for almost 100 years, and if successful, Kaipara Limited will be allowed to extract two million cubic metres of sand over 20 more years.

The dredged sand is largely used in concrete used in Auckland’s construction projects and roads, and has also been used to top up the sand at Mission Bay, Kohimarama, St Heliers and Herne Bay beaches.

Eighty per cent of the fairy tern breeding population is based on the east coast between Pākiri and Mangawhai.

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Sand had been taken from offshore near Pākiri for almost 100 years.

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Of 660 public submissions received on the matter, just four are in support, from Allied Concrete, Bridgeman Concrete, McCallum Bros and the Aggregate and Quarry Association of New Zealand – all of which have interests in concrete and sand supply.

Tara iti are considered to be New Zealand’s rarest breeding bird.

For many of those against the proposal, the critically endangered tara iti is at the forefront of their concerns.

The native shore bird is likely New Zealand’s rarest breeding bird, with a population of about 45 including only 12 breeding pairs, according to the Department of Conservation.

In its opposing submission, Forest and Bird described tara iti as being “on the brink of extinction”, with 80 per cent of its breeding pairs located between Pākiri and Mangawhai.

The biggest threats to tara iti include predators and habitat loss, including the degrading of sand dunes.

The Endangered Species Foundation said Auckland Council needed to “make the right decision” and put an end to the Pākiri sand mining, for which the current resource consent is due to expire in 2023.

“This is New Zealand’s rarest endemic bird and its habitat is under grave threat,” foundation chairman Stu Muir said in a statement.

“The fate of the tara iti is closely linked to the fate of our beaches and all the species that depend on them.”

Muir added that the views of local iwi Ngātiwai and Ngāti Manuhiri, both of which opposed the proposal, needed to be respected “to protect our moana for all species and future generations”.

The Auckland Conservation Board also had concerns over the coastal environment of Pākiri Beach, adding that the waters surrounding the extraction site had a highly diverse range of marine mammals, including a small population of Bryde’s whales, which are listed as nationally critical.

But assessment into the ecological affects of the proposal by independent ecological and environmental research company Bioresearches found no direct adverse effects on birds, seals, whales or dolphins were anticipated.

The report also found mobile fish would be able to avoid the dredge site, while fine sediment discharges would be small and unlikely to affect any present fish.

An Auckland Council review found any adverse affects on fish and birds would be “less than minor”.

“They would avoid the area if the turbidity is not suitable for their feeding/foraging, but they would recommence feeding once the sand extraction in the area is complete.”

The resource consent hearing is expected to conclude on May 31.

Stuff approached Auckland Council for further comment, however a spokeswoman said it wasn’t appropriate for it to comment due to the resource consent hearing being underway.