Forest and Bird has initiated further court action in its bid to halt a 150-hectare escarpment mine on the West Coast's Denniston Plateau.
It yesterday lodged an appeal against the Environment Court's recent decision not to consider environmental effects of the proposed nearby Sullivan coalmine.
The hearing will also determine whether to give Bathurst Resources' Escarpment Mine the green light.
The Environment Court's interim decision last month said consent was likely if appropriate conditions could be met.
Forest and Bird top of the south field officer Debs Martin said the Sullivan mine appeal related to the Denniston decision.
The fact that the Sullivan mine could be mined under its current permit made what was left of the area more precious.
At this stage she didn't know how long the appeal over the Sullivan mine might take.
Ms Martin said there might be further appeals to the court on matters of law regarding the Denniston escarpment mine decision.
Bathurst has said it hoped to be mining at Denniston by the end of the year but a further delay of four to six months was likely if Forest and Bird appealed against decisions from the Environment Court.
Ms Martin thought the period of delay was reasonable.
"We're talking about destroying something that's 40 to 60 million years old. I'm sure the world won't hold its breath if we take a little bit longer to make the right decision."
To get a marine reserve or a national park protected could take a decade. That was the sort of time these things took.
"If you've got experience in working with conservation in New Zealand you know that good things take time and good consultation takes time."
Forest and Bird's appeal against the escarpment mine was heard in the Environment Court late last year, and last month the court announced the environmental effects of the adjacent Sullivan mine site would not be taken into account.
Mining company Solid Energy has licences until 2027 to develop a 134ha opencast mine on the Sullivan site.
Ms Martin said yesterday's appeal was "a fine legal point but with significant ramifications".
"We've argued throughout the hearing that the ecological values of the Denniston Plateau are too high to sacrifice. There are unique ecosystems up there found nowhere else in the world and habitats of rare and endangered species, all of which will be irreversibly damaged if the escarpment mine goes ahead," she said.
"If you add to that the impacts of another 134ha opencast mine, the overall impact on this rare and unique environment will be compounded. A significant chunk of the plateau will be lost.".
- By Kim Fulton of the Westport News
