Solid Energy to spend $8000 saving each snail

The Save Happy Valley Coalition says Conservation Minister Chris Carter has signed a warrant for the extinction of New Zealand's newest species of carnivorous land snail. Picture / DoC

Solid Energy (SE) estimates moving and protecting snails on the Mt Augustus ridgeline, at Stockton opencast mine on the West Coast will cost about $8000 per snail.

SE company on Wednesday received ministerial permission to move a population of Powelliphanta Augustus snails so it can mine up to $400 million tonnes of export coal.

It has to relocate by hand up to 250 snails into a new habitat as close as possible to their old home, but not affected by mining.

It also has to directly transfer existing snail habitat to another area near the new site.

"To date, and going forward, relocation of the snails from Mt Augustus will cost us in the vicinity of upwards of $2 million. That's $8000 a head," SE communications director Vicki Blyth said.

SE has a team of about 15 moving the snails. Its wildlife permit requires each snail be transported in a sterile plastic container, the size of a two litre icecream container, with 60mm of damp litter collected from where the animal was found covered with a mat of moss.

Forest and Bird spokesman Dr Brian Anderson said on Wednesday the protection measures for the snails were insufficient. He said the new habitat could only hold 85 snails and those left in the current habitat would be at risk from falling rocks from ridgeline mining.

SE had a concession from the Department of Conservation (DOC) to drop up to 270 tonnes of rock at a time there, he said.

Ms Blyth said the size of the new habitat would depend on how many snails were found.

However, each hectare could support about 130 snails and SE had found at least 10ha of suitable habitat at Stockton.

"If we find 250 (snails) we're going to need a minimum of 2ha.

"If we find more, then we'll need more."

She disputed that snails remaining below the ridgeline would be threatened by rockfall. She said SE had to protect that area with extra fencing. It was not allowed to drop more debris than would occur through natural erosion.

"Our intention would be for it to be virtually negligible, but if a few rocks and stones fell on to the land below that would be covered by the concession. If there was a big boulder, or a substantial rockfall went down, that clearly would not be covered."

The Save Happy Valley Coalition said Conservation Minister Chris Carter had signed a warrant for the extinction of New Zealand's newest species of carnivorous land snail.

"Despite consistent advice from his department that moving the snails will lead to their extinction, Chris Carter has bowed to pressure from Solid Energy and has signed off on New Zealand's first state-sponsored species extinction," spokeswoman Frances Mountier said.

The minister had claimed that three conservation measures gave him enough certainty the snails would survive.

But DOC had advised the only way to ensure that the species did not become extinct was to leave the snails where they were, Ms Mountier said.

- NZPA