Fears for critically endangered fairy tern near Pākiri sand mining site

Caroline Williams Reporter from Rodney Times

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.

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.

For many of the 665 people 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.

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.

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