Northland conservationists lose swamp kauri appeal

A Northland conservation group has lost its final court battle over swamp kauri. The Northland Environmental Protection Society took the Ministry of Primary Industries to the High Court last year, arguing that wetlands were being destroyed to unearth the valuable timber. It said MPI was failing to regulate swamp kauri exports in line with the 1949 Forests Act. It further argued that swamp was a fossil and should be covered by the Protected Objects Act. The High Court noted the ministry had tightened up its monitoring of the export trade because of the public attention. But it found no laws were broken, and that if New Zealand wanted tougher rules on swamp kauri - Parliament would have to enact some. The Court of Appeal has now upheld that decision. The group's president Fiona Furrell told RNZ reporter Lois Williams it can go no further with its crusade.