University of Otago Associate Prof Nick Rawlence, one of the researchers whose enthusiasm did much to raise public awareness about the site, has said the return of researchers to the area will be viewed nationally and internationally as a victory for science.
At a time when some members of the public, and too many of our politicians, are keen to ignore what science has to say on a variety of fronts, this is indeed something to celebrate.
The purchasing of 42ha of the Foulden Maar site by the Dunedin City Council, something which presumably would not fit the back-to-basics ethos being preached by the current government, is a good example of the council taking heed of public sentiment.
A routine letter from the mayor's office initially supported the plan to mine the site for diatomite to be used as an animal food supplement of questionable benefit. That followed a briefing from the mining company Plaman Resources which was later revealed to be economical with the facts. The mayor and council later backtracked when it was made to realise the scientific significance of the site and there was a public backlash which involved thousands of supporters for the Save Foulden Maar campaign, including former prime minister Helen Clark. After the foreign-owned Plaman Resources went into receivership in 2019, the council announced its intent to buy the 42ha owned by the company, but the negotiations to secure the land purchase took more than three years.
A deal was announced in February last year. At that time the council had confirmed its intention to preserve the property for environmental and scientific research purposes and not to mine the property. It was not clear then when scientists, who had been locked out of the site since April 2019, would get back to work there.
Now the council has granted consent for earthworks associated with scientific research at the site. A group of 20 scientists, students and support staff will be able to access the site once a month and excavate 0.5 cubic metres a month for up to five years.
At its deepest point, the lake contains a unique climate record spanning 120,000 years, and information from this can be used in predictive global climate models.
The return of the scientists is a great first step in the future management of the site.
As we have said before, it would be good to see strong links between the site and the Waitaki Whitestone Geopark, which became the first Unesco Global Geopark in Australasia last year. Unesco global geoparks are described as single, unified geographical areas where sites and landscapes of international geological significance are managed with a holistic concept of protection, education, and sustainable development. It was disconcerting to hear Waitaki District Mayor Gary Kircher raising concerns recently about the council’s ability to provide the level of support required to help cement the Waitaki geopark’s new status.
He warned the park could run the risk of losing its Unesco accreditation, something which took years of dogged community and academic effort to achieve, if the council did not play its part. It is not clear whether the government believes local authorities should rid themselves of involvement in such areas. It does not seem realistic or necessarily ethically desirable to expect community groups and private enterprise to provide everything which might be required and, if the government does not want councils to step in, it needs to spell out whether it has a role to play.
