NZ risks being led off clean green path

When I was 6, my parents decided to start going for family walks. We would walk up Mt Hobson and occasionally walk down to Shore Rd to kick a soccer ball in the park. It became a regular family activity.

As well as it being good exercise to walk up Mt Hobson, the view from the mountain was magnificent.

When we looked out around us we could see many buildings, houses, roads and the motorway with a lot of traffic stacked up as far as the eye could see.

And when we looked past all that we noticed many clean, green parks, reserves and mountains, such as Rangitoto, Mt St John, Mt Eden and One Tree Hill.

We are fortunate to have these parks and mountains because, when travelling overseas, we see many people everywhere, even in the parks.

We should cherish the freedom available in New Zealand. These areas help keep New Zealand's clean, green image and are here for us to enjoy as my family and I did when I was 6 and can still do to this day. But can we keep our parks like this for much longer?

People have begun to make future plans for our mountains, parks and reserves, some of them involving cutting down trees and filling open spaces with buildings, houses and apartments.

There have also been suggestions of mining in national parks within the next 10 years.

If followed, we would no longer be known as a clean, green country where people can come to visit our parks, mountains and reserves. We would just be thought of as another country with nothing more to offer than anywhere else.

Our generation and the generations to come have to start thinking about what will happen to these iconic spots in the future. One of the ideas under consideration is more coal mining. On average coal mines would only be open for 10 years and we need to be thinking further than that and asking ourselves if that would be what we want New Zealand to be like and known as in 100 years' time.

This would affect us because we would have wasted precious land on old mines that will no longer be working in 10 years.

Another idea that has been considered for our parks and reserves is using them to exploit oil reserves. Starting up a process like this can threaten plant species, endanger birds and run people who provide accommodation and tourist attractions in the area out of business.

Many people have tried to persuade the Government that it would be a bad idea to destroy and change our parks and reserves because they would be exploited for 10 years and then left as a big mess.

Members of conservation groups spent many years trying to get national parks established and protected from activities such as mining. Environmentalists say that the risk of ruining them for short-term economic gain is just not worth it.

Our generation is obliged to preserve these areas for future generations. Therefore to keep anyone from changing our parks, mountains and reserves we must continue to remind the Government and others that this is not what we want for the future of New Zealand and that we should really hold on to what we have and to what is unique about our land.

When I was 6 the highlight of my week was walking up Mt Hobson in the fresh air and looking out over clean, green Auckland.

I could also do free, fun activities in the parks, such as climbing volcanic cones, enjoying picnics, playing on playgrounds or at sports fields, and even going camping.

But year by year the amount of greenery has decreased and more high-rises have shot up. Auckland, New Zealand, is lucky to have more than 4219 parks covering 16.6 per cent of the land area.

But at the rate new buildings are going up and our parks, mountains and reserves are being destroyed, they won't be around for too much longer.

Caroline McElroy, Year 10, St Cuthbert's College