Forest & Bird launches Environment Court appeal to protect Northland fairy terns

Tuesday, 23 July 2019

Court action is being taken to protect the habitat of New Zealand's most endangered bird.

Forest & Bird has filed an Environment Court appeal against Northland Regional Council over its proposed regional plan, which it said would endanger the fairy tern or tara iti.

Forest & Bird northern regional manager Nick Beveridge said it was appealing to the council to protect mangrove forests, which provided vital habitats for the birds. 

'There are only about 36 tara iti left in the world, so we need to make sure the places where they feed and breed are not disturbed or destroyed,' Beveridge said.

**READ MORE:

* NZ's rarest bird on the brink of extinction 

* High hopes for first fairy tern eggs of the season

* Weapons range provides protection for fairy tern**

At present, the proposed plan provided better protection for cockle beds than it did for tara iti, Beveridge said.

'It's just unbelievable. The plan is terribly deficient when it comes to protecting the habitat of our most endangered bird, the tara iti, which is just a heartbeat away from extinction.'

Critically endangered Australasian bitterns and threatened banded rails also live in Northland's mangrove forests.

All the rare birds could be pushed closer to extinction if the regional plan went ahead, Beveridge said.

The proposed plan marked out areas with significant birdlife, but did not impose any extra rules on mangrove removal or development in those areas, he said.

Forest & Bird was calling for the plan to protect Significant Bird Areas in the same way that Significant Ecological Areas are protected from harmful development and from the removal of native trees, such as mangroves.

'The Kaipara and Mangawhai harbours are critically important for the tara iti and the bittern, so it would be disastrous if large areas of mangroves were cleared,' Beveridge said. 

The Northland Regional Council has been approached for comment.