Ended right, started wrong

Searchers saved the lives of two trampers who have been missing in Kuhurangi National Park:

The two trampers who went missing in bush north-west of Nelson say they spent nearly two weeks without food and their only saving grace was water they had found.

An intensive search and rescue operation had been underway to find Dion Reynolds and Jessica O’Connor, who have been in Kahurangi National Park since 8 May.

The pair were in a very rugged and remote part of the park when a search helicopter spotted smoke from a fire they had lit and rescued them yesterday, the police officer leading the rescue, Sergeant Malcolm York, said.

York said the 23-year-olds were incredibly lucky to have survived.

“This search was a particularly challenging one due to the remote and rugged location, it’s a long from anywhere out there and it’s a complete lack of any communication.” . . 

The trampers did the right thing once they were lost – made camp and stayed put.

However, they did two things wrong at the start – going tramping under Covid-19 Level 3 lockdown when tramping was confined to day walks on easy trails; and not taking a personal locator beacon.

A PLB costs a few hundred dollars to buy and far less to hire.

Buying or hiring one is a lot less expensive than the costs incurred by police and search parties who have to go on a rescue mission at considerable inconvenience and potential risk to their safety.

This story could have ended very badly. That it didn’t owes a lot to the trampers doing the right thing once they were lost, the perseverance and skill of the searchers and a little bit of luck.

It wouldn’t even have been a story had the couple not got two things right at the start –  sticking to the lockdown rules and carrying a PLB.

Endangered species

Forest and Bird does a lot of good work to protect endangered species.

They also have a propensity for protesting against development.

Some West Coasters have had enough of that in their patch.

A group travelled to Wellington to protest against F&B’s continued opposition to Bathurst’s Denniston Mine.

One hoarding read: Westcoasters endangered by Forest and Bird.

This might not be the only opposition F&B faces.

Go West Coast is investigating legal avenues for opposing the opposers.

Chairman Brent Oldham said that the four and a half year resource consent process has obviously cost Bathurst considerable time and expense. GWC is concerned that the longer final approval takes, the more financial and time pressure is being placed on Bathurst – and he wonders just how much more they can take.

“If, at the end of this, Bathurst walk away from this project and cite on-going vexatious litigation from Forest and Bird as being the primary reason for this, then we believe Forest and Bird need to be held accountable. To this end, we are investigating whether a group claim could be initiated.

As part of their access arrangement to the Denniston Plateau, Bathurst Resources has committed to pay $22m to the Department of Conservation to be used on predator and pest controls in the Kahurangi National Park. It seems incredible to us that Forest and Bird seem prepared to risk the single biggest investment  by a private company to the Kahurangi National Park in return for the use of 106 hectares of 2,400 hectare Denniston Plateau that will otherwise, in all likelihood, never have a cent spent on it.

Forest and Bird’s constitution lists advocation of the destruction of introduced species harmful to New Zealand’s flora and fauna as a primary objective, yet their continuing appeals, in this instance, could be shown to contradict this objective.” . . .

The economy and social fabric of the West Coast will be boosted if the mine goes ahead.

The environmental impact will be mitigated.

The jobs and downstream work the mine would bring, the social impact of that, and $22m of pest and predator control seems very good compensation for disturbing a very small area albeit one with conservation value.