Environmental assessments reveal a proposed Central Otago gold mine would have "significant" impacts on native lizard populations, potentially killing up to 650,000 individuals.
The project tests New Zealand's commitment to conservation against economic pressures. The numbers are staggering - 650,000 lizards for a gold mine in a country that prides itself on conservation. This captures the tension between New Zealand's clean-green image and economic reality when mining dollars are on the table.
The proposed Bendigo-Ophir mine near Alexandra would cover 600 hectares of Central Otago schist landscape - prime habitat for native skinks and geckos. The Otago Daily Times reports the environmental assessment estimates between 250,000 and 650,000 lizards could be killed by habitat destruction.
The assessment, prepared by ecological consultants for Australian mining company OceanaGold, acknowledged the impacts would be "significant" and "long-lasting." The company proposes translocating some lizards to nearby habitats and creating artificial refuges.
Conservationists are unconvinced. "You can't just move 650,000 lizards to somewhere else and expect them to survive," said Rebecca Anderson, a herpetologist who reviewed the assessment. "This is unprecedented scale of habitat destruction for native reptiles."
New Zealand's lizards are largely endemic - found nowhere else on earth. The Central Otago region supports at least six species of skinks and geckos, some of which are declining due to habitat loss and introduced predators.



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