This is the dilemma highlighted in the Economist’s March 23 article “It’s not easy seeming green“, which exposes the ever-widening divide between New Zealand’s projected image of “clean and green” or “100% pure”, and the reality – of a nation, which like any other, is perpetually struggling to find the balance between economic development and preservation of our precious natural heritage. This fissure between projected image and reality has for many become a gaping chasm since the government’s announcement that it is considering opening up high-value conservation land for mining exploration.But this dilemma of development versus preservation is not new to these shores, and many of the stories on this site explore this tension between development and conservation. For example see:
This sacrifice will bring retribution – deforestation and its consequences
Destruction of our forests over time
German voices against “senseless destruction”
Jeanette Fitzsimons: how our attitudes towards the environment have changed 1974 -2010
One landscape – two environmental histories
envirohistory NZ 