Save Happy Valley treesit
Two South Island students began a hunger strike today in protest of the proposed“Cypress” mine in Happy Valley. The students will confine themselves to a small platform suspended from a tree on the road to Stockton, near Granity on the West Coast.
“What we are doing may seem dangerous, but the dangers posed by the Cypress Mine are far greater. We want to illustrate the hunger and suffering that global climate change will cause, to empathise with those who have no voice in the world.” stated Fiona Gibson, one of the hunger strikers.
A number of protestors from around New Zealand have also occupied the site of the proposed mine for the second time.
The proposed mine will extract 500,000 tonnes of coal from the mine each year for 10 years, mostly for export. Protestors say the mine will cause massive loss of vegetation, and destroy habitat for endangered insects and kiwi. [ Read more ]